Manipulation
by Clairisant2000
Summary: This it the third and final installment in my JAG/Crossing Jordan series. This story finds Jordan pregnant with Palmer's child and dealing with the fact that he is still alive out there in the world.
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Manipulation

AUTHOR: Clairisant

CLASSIFICATION: This is a Crossing Jordan/JAG Crossover story. Woody/Jordan, Max/LaVon.

FEEDBACK: Would love to hear both good and bad feedback, but please try to be kind and constructive. Clairisant 

CREDITS: A special thank you to my beta reader Qupeydoll.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third in the Jurisdiction, Retribution series.

Chapter 1

Jordan had only planned to be in Virginia for a long weekend for her Aunt Meredith's bridal shower. However, because of the confrontation with Harmon Rabb and the realization that she wasn't married to him, but to some imposter trying to destroy Harm's life, she had come home the same day she had left Boston.

Her emotional state when she got back caused Woody to stay with her, and even after she became more responsive, it was just easier to stay put. Woody slept on her sofa and ran into her room every time she woke from another Palmer induced nightmare.

With Woody and Lily's help she pulled herself together and was back at work that Monday just as she had planed to be. During that week wedding plans had gone into motion. They were married that next weekend and because of the unusual circumstances of their marriage there was no need for a honeymoon and once again she was back at work on Monday.

They had discussed where they would live and decided to give Woody's place a try because Jordan's wasn't really working. His apartment also had only one bedroom and had an even smaller floor plan. It was quickly clear that they were going to have to get a new place.

Combining their incomes they could easily afford a bigger place, but then the question became did they need a two or three bedroom apartment? They weren't sleeping together and had no plans to that Jordan was aware of even if it was something that Woody secretly dreamed would come to pass one day. She said that they could get by with two for quite some time because that baby could be in her room as long as it was still in a crib.

Woody countered with the fact that moving was a big undertaking and would they really want to do it again when the baby needed his or her own room, or wouldn't it be smarter to get a three bedroom place now? Jordan agreed as long as they could find one in their price range.

Their wedding was a quiet affair and at first came as quite a surprise to many in their circle. The circumstances of her non-marriage to the man who was not Harmon Rabb had become common knowledge because Lily had felt all Jordan's friends should know so they could rally around her in support. Clark Palmer had hoodwinked her good, getting her to marry him under the false pretense that he was Harmon Rabb Jr. Then he disappeared when she had gone to her Aunt Meredith's bridal shower knowing she would encounter the real Harm. Added to her hurt, confusion, and humiliation, was that she was also pregnant with his child.

Between Lily and Woody they had convinced her to keep the baby. It was her assurances that she couldn't do that alone that led to her wedding to Woody. Because she had never truly been married to Harm, or Clark Palmer for that matter, there was no obstacle to her marrying again as soon as it could be arranged.

It was supposed to be a simple quick service at the court house. However, Lily was horrified when Jordan announced she was planning to wear her new jeans for the ceremony. She had insisted as Jordan's maid of honor, although Jordan kept referring to Lily as just her witness, that she simply could NOT get married in jeans!

Jordan had argued that they were new and blue, and that she could borrow an old T shirt from Woody for the other two things. Lily was close to hyperventilating at that comment, so Jordan relented and agreed to go dress shopping with her. A dress was bought, not the fancy, lacy, dreamy, confection that Lily wanted her to buy, but it also wasn't jeans.

Lily and Garret had been the only ones told when and where the ceremony would be, but Lily just couldn't let it go without Jordan's family and friends there. So in addition to the two witnesses, Bug and Nigel were there, as well as her Father, Max and LaVon the lady he had been dating for the past few months and her daughter, Tuyen, who was only a few years younger than Jordan.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The bride gave her 'witness' an accusing glare, but only got a cherubic smile in return.

Everyone adjourned to Max's bar after the ceremony. It was not fashionable or 'wedding reception' like, but it had food and booze all of which was on the house in honor of his daughter's wedding.

"Can you believe that after extensive testing of the plane crash victims, none of the dental records matched Clark Palmer?!" Woody asked the group around the table, each one of which would know just what that meant.

Jordan was the one to say it out loud, "So that means he wasn't on the plane…he's not dead after all."

Lily reached over to pat her friends hand as her voice became more agitated, "That means he's still out there somewhere! Damn it! I was so glad when I thought he was dead! Now what do we do?" Jordan asked.

"I will renew the APB on him to every police station in the country, but with the time he has had to disappear and his disguise abilities, I don't hold out much hope unless he gets careless and Palmer didn't strike me as the careless type," Woody answered his wife of less than an hour. He wanted to assure Jordan that they would get Palmer and put his conniving, manipulative, lying, evil ass behind bars for the rest of his life. But, Woody was all too personally aware of just how superlative Palmer was at getting away with things and he was afraid that the bastard was long gone.

Harmon Rabb Jr. found himself in one hell of a situation because of the stunt that Clark Palmer had pulled. Because he had been in contact with his mother over another lie Palmer had perpetuated, she and Harm's step-father were aware that the news of his death in a plane crash was false. However, there were many friends who thought it was real, so his family received many sympathy calls they had to correct.

That actually turned out to be the easiest part of the whole nightmare. Because he had been declared dead, his bank account had been frozen, the Navy was no longer sending him pay checks, and because a dead man can't try cases, he couldn't even work!

The Admiral, Mac, Bud, and even Coates had all signed affidavits saying that Harmon Rabb Jr. was indeed alive, but each one of them had either taunted him, ribbed him, or at least grinned, when they signed the document. As if all that were not enough, his driver's license was also invalid, so someone had to chauffer him around to all the appointments he had made to get it established that he was really still alive!

It took two days short of a month to get everything sorted out and allow him to return to work!

Jordan continued to work so saw Garret and Lily everyday. They were continuing to date, but Lily was wondering if it wasn't time they were progressing to the next level of their relationship. Privately, Jordan wondered if Garret ever would be ready for that.

The weekend after their wedding Boston was hit with a late season snow storm. Saturday morning the city woke to find seventeen inches of snow had fallen overnight and it was still coming down throughout the day. By the time Monday morning rolled around twenty eight inches of the white stuff was on the ground and the city's inhabitants were struggling to dig themselves out.

Woody had been working most of the weekend to keep his car from being buried by the falling snow as well as the ever present snow plows. He insisted on driving Jordan to work that morning and she shocked everyone she came into contact with that she was there on time.

Jordan had just finished an autopsy on a homeless man that had frozen to death in the weekend blizzard. Lily was still working on trying to identify the man they only knew as Little Fred by gently questioning the elderly homeless man the police had brought in with the body.

Little Fred was just that. He wasn't even five feet tall and weighed slightly over one hundred pounds. He clearly was malnourished as well as being almost skeletal. The team was busy running all the usual tests on the body. Jordan had taken dental impressions and sighed to discover that Little Fred only had seven teeth left in his mouth. Bug had taken his fingerprints, but thought that there wasn't much hope on that front due to the condition of the body by the time they had gotten it. Nigel was off with Little Fred's clothes to see what clues he could get from them.

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jordan was placing Little Fred in the morgue's freezer when there was a loud bang, followed by a thump, and then the motor ground to a halt as the lights inside went off. She was startled for a moment, but then remembered the last time the freezer had gone on the blink. It was just after Garret had taken over the department. It was down over a day, but they finally got it fixed and things went back to normal. So, she had no reason to believe that this time would be any different.

Leaving the room quickly and closing the door tight behind her to keep as much of the cold air in as long as possible, she went to report the problem to Garret.

After a resigned sigh and several pithy comments as to the bad timing of the unit to break down in a blizzard, he turned to the phone to get the repair people on their way. Jordan quickly left so as not to garner any of her boss's wrath. It was going to take longer than he expected.

Bug was tasked with keeping an eye on the temperature controls of the freezer and as the day wore on, with no repairman showing up, Garret went back to the phone to repeat his demand to be moved up on the list as their need was urgent.

By 5pm it was clear that they would not see a repairman that day. The temperature in the freezer was slowly but steadily climbing. They were going to have to do something to keep the bodies inside at the temps they should be. The staff remembered bringing in dry ice the last time this happened, but it was Nigel that came up with the controversial, but brilliant idea that saved the day!

The morgue occupied the top floor of the building they were in. Right above them was a perfectly good roof, covered in snow. The air temp outside was even colder than they kept the freezer, and the weather man claimed that it was going to stay that way for some time to come. Nigel suggested quietly moving the bodies to the roof until the freezer was fixed.

It was truly a great idea, but rules and procedures prevented Garret from being as enthusiastic as the rest of the staff when he came up with it. He grumbled and protested for over an hour until he came to the conclusion that there was no other option.

Everyone donned coats and boots and began to move the bodies outside. Covered in the white sheets they typically used, the bodies on the roof presented an eerie sight as the sun started to set over the city.

A strong wind kicked up during the night and combined with the six new inches of snow that fell, this made for some pretty bad drifts in some areas of the city. Jordan arrived at work to find not the typical pre-work calm, but instead, a scene of chaos. People were scurrying everywhere, all with frantic looks on their faces. She made it to the break room before finding anyone not in a panicked rush that she could inquire as to what in the world was going on. Bug was there putting his coat and gloves on in between grabbing gulps of hot coffee.

"What is going on?!" she asked him.

"We've lost a body," he gasped out.

"Lost?!" Jordan practically squeaked. "Does Garret think we had a break in? And how would they have known to look for the bodies on the roof?!"

"I have no idea!" he informed her. "All I know is that when Nig and I got here this morning and went up to check on them, one was missing. It's the homeless guy you autopsied yesterday, Little Fred."

"Who would want to steal his body? Or maybe it was that friend of his that Lily was trying to get information out of!"

"I don't know, Jordan. All I do know is that Garret is ready to kill all of us! First we put them on the roof against any kind of regulations! Then we lose one of them! Lily is in his office trying to calm him down now and I am going back up to the roof to look once again. If I were you, I would go to my office to search for Little Fred and stay there until he is found!"

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"But I have three autopsies scheduled for today!" Jordan protested.

"Then lock the door while you are in there," Bug warned.

She quickly got her coffee and headed to her office to get rid of her coat and boots. As she passed Garret's office she could hear Lily still trying to calm him down.

To top off the frustration of the day, the freezer repairman did not put in an appearance. By quitting time neither the repairman nor the body of Little Fred had turned up. Garret was reluctant to let them go home that evening with the body still unaccounted for, but it was Jordan that reasoned what more could they do than they had done that day if they stayed longer?

That evening after work Nigel had his weekly tarot card reading with Clara Rose. It was a typical reading without anything unusual turning up in it. However, as he was about to walk out the door she called out to him, "Dearie, the missing man you are looking for is covered with white."

Nigel's eyes popped out, still finding himself surprised at some of the things Clara Rose came up with. "How did you know?"

"I just saw everyone looking for someone and then saw him covered with white," she answered.

"We did lose a body today at work, but the 'covered with white' doesn't really help a lot Ms. Rose. We cover all the bodies at the morgue with white sheets. Thanks for trying though."

"Oh," she pouted a bit. "Well I did try and if I get any more information about it I will let you know, Dearie."

"Thank you Ms. Rose," he said and left.

Nigel was telling Bug what Clara Rose had told him the night before when Jordan walked in and he started the story all over again. Bug shook his head resignedly that Nigel believed in this wacky woman's predictions, then he gleefully told Lily the story when she came in.

Garret was in his office yelling into the phone to get the repairman there, unaware that his staff were all in the break room talking about advice on finding the missing body from a physic! If he had known, his blood pressure might have let him take Little Fred's place!

Something had clearly put him in a better mood though, because when he entered the break room, he seemed less ready to tear everyone's heads off. "Jerry should be here within the hour," he announced.

"Jerry?!" everyone in the room asked in unison.

"The repair guy. Now I want this place torn apart until that body is found! Everything else can wait!" When the four of them stood there looking at him, his scowl returned and he barked, "NOW!"

At that four cups of coffee were slammed down on the counters and their owners scurried from the room.

Garret reached for his own mug and poured himself a cup of coffee with a self-satisfied grin on his face.

Jerry arrived and went right to work as the search for Little Fred continued. He finished in just under two hours and presented the bill to Garret, which he reluctantly paid, and still the body had not been found. It was just after lunch when the freezer had cooled down to the right temperature and they could start moving bodies down from the roof. They had all made one trip to the freezer and were starting down with their second person when Bug ran his gurney into something. He tried to push passed whatever it was, thinking it could have been a hard spot in the snow, but when that didn't work, he stopped and walked around to the front of the gurney. Bending down he let out a gasp of surprise and called out to everyone, "Hey guys, guess what?!"

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"What?! Garret snapped, he was still not in a good mood.

"I found Fred," Bug reported.

"You what?!" Nigel demanded as everyone hurried over to where Bug was bent over.

"Didn't your psychic say he'd be covered in white? Why didn't we think she could have meant the snow?!" Bug asked.

"Psychic? What psychic?!" Garret wanted to know.

"Clara Rose," Jordan filled her boss in.

When all the bodies including the newly found one of Little Fred were back in the freezer where they belonged everyone was free to go back to their regular duties. Bug and Nigel were in the lab, Garret and Lily each in their own offices and Jordan in autopsy with a new body that had just come in.

Finished with the very uninteresting Mr. Watterson case, Jordan headed to the break room for a caffeine reward. She found Lily sitting there with her head in her hands looking very depressed and upset. "Hey what has you so down? Did you and Garret have a fight?!" she asked her friend.

"No, nothing like that," Lily replied sadly. Looking up as Jordan sat down across the table from her she continued, "I just identified Little Fred."

"I would think that should make you happy, not upset like this. Who is he?"

"You're not going to believe this. I'm not sure I have fully taken it in. He's a war hero!"

"Huh?!" Jordan grunted in surprise.

"I know! How did a Navy Lieutenant who won both a Purple Heart and the Medal of Honor end up homeless on the streets of Boston?! Can you explain that to me?!" Lily wanted to know.

Jordan shook her head saying, "Everyone had their own story Lily. Who can say how something like that comes about? Were you able to find any family? Maybe they could shed some light on his life."

"All I could find was a great granddaughter who is in college in Los Angeles. She was an only child of parents that died in a house fire last year. She's in the middle of a semester so can't leave school even if she wanted. Her name is Lori Douglas and she had never even heard of her great grandfather, Lieutenant Fredrick Douglas. She's going to school on scholarships so there isn't even money to bury Little Fred. How sad is that?" Lily asked, putting her head back in her hands.

"Wow that is too bad. Lily, have you thought about calling the local veteran's administration? They might be able and willing to help for a war hero."

"Jordan, that's a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?!" her friend asked as she jumped to her feet and raced from the room.

The funeral was a quiet yet distinguished affair. It was attended by the gang from the morgue at Lily's insistence. They stood there shivering in the snow saying good-bye to someone the world had forgotten. Even the minister performing the eulogy could only list his military accomplishments because there were no personal details know. The twenty one gun salute and the playing of taps was even sadder for that fact.

There was a lot of talk between her and Woody on what to name the baby. Because the ultrasound had revealed that she was going to have a boy, all she knew for sure was that she didn't want any reference to Palmer or Harm in the baby's name. She also didn't feel right naming him after Woody since it really wasn't his child, even though he had been amazing about being willing to raise him with her. The other two men she admired in her life both hated their names, so they were out as choices. Her father, Max, was really, Maximilian and threatened that if she ever named a baby after him he would disown her. AJ Chegwidden, who was going to be her uncle as soon as he married her Aunt Meredith, also despised his name. She sighed; it was becoming impossible to make any family related choice.

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Jordan had been pleased when her father began dating LaVon Trask. Although she had played a rather naughty joke on him when she had pretended to set him up with Clara Rose, she knew he hadn't dated much at all since her mother's death and hoped that he could find some happiness other than just running his bar.

LaVon was the widow of Chuck Trask, the abusive husband and murderer, that had been killed in the subway trying to flee from police. She had been hesitant to start dating Max after such a bad experience with Chuck, but her daughter wanted to see her mother happy, just as Jordan did with her father, and had encouraged LaVon to take a chance with Max.

Everyone was a bit surprised at how quickly their romance progressed, but you need only to look at the two of them together to see how in love they were. He proposed after a very short courtship and LaVon happily accepted. The wedding was set for the end of July so Jordan would have had the baby by then. Her due date was July 9th.

LaVon's daughter Tuyen was moving on with her life just as she had encouraged her mother to do after her step-father's death. She had moved out of her mom's house and had gotten a small apartment near the campus where she was teaching. She had even started to accept invitations to go out for coffee. Dating was still a scary proposition even if it was on a casual date.

Unfortunately the romantic news from VA was not as good as it was in Boston. Jordan's Aunt Meredith had been up to her old tricks again. Against all odds Jordan had hoped that this time her aunt would be smart enough to keep hold of Admiral Chegwidden with both her hands. She hadn't brought the four other fiancée's to Boston to meet her brother and niece so Jordan had hoped this time she would really go through with the wedding. But just last week Meredith had called in tears to say that AJ had broken up with her. It took some major digging on her part, but Jordan finally got her aunt to admit that the reason he had broken up with her. He had discovered her Spanish Professor and herself in her bedroom. Meredith had left the details to Jordan's imagination when she would say no more. She did, however, beg Jordan to intercede on her behalf with AJ. Meredith claimed 'he likes you so!'

Jordan had countered with, "He may have liked me Aunt Meredith, but he loved you! If you didn't have any luck getting him to take you back why do you think he would listen to me!? And honestly what were you thinking?! A military man who puts honor and duty above all else and you cheat on him?! I am surprised he would even talk to you again let alone take you back!"

That was when Meredith admitted that while he hadn't said he wouldn't take her back, he wasn't returning any of her calls, either at work or home. She brightened when she told Jordan that the next day she was going to go to his office and plead with him to forgive her!

Jordan was about to tell her aunt that it wasn't a very good idea to confront him at work, but before she could, Meredith had hung up the phone.

The next afternoon her aunt had called her at work to tell her how badly the visit had gone. That was when Jordan decided to call the man who would now never be her uncle. She had no plans at all to plead her aunt's case. In fact, she admired the Admiral for sticking to his guns and not forgiving the betrayal. Instead, what she wanted to do was to let him know that she liked and respected him and if he would allow it, she would like to remain in touch with him.

Even over the phone Jordan could hear how much AJ was hurting. The amazing thing was that even though it had been her ant that had caused his pain AJ had said he would like to remain in contact with Jordan. She was very happy about that, but knew enough to keep the news from her Aunt Meredith!

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Mealtime had become a place where Jordan and Woody could bond. They had a lot of foods that they liked in common. However, Jordan found out early in their marriage that her new husband was truly a product of his home state! Wisconsin was the cheese capitol of the US, and Woody had been brought up with a plentitude of his home's product. Since he was the only one with any desire to cook, their meals reflected this. He put cheese sauce on broccoli, potato casserole topped with cheese, and even salads were not exempt! There was shredded cheese there too!

Jordan tried to explain that as a medical professional she knew that much cheese was not good for them. She went on about hardening of the arteries, heart attack potential, not to mention the simple fat content of that much cheese in their diets! Woody would nod and agree, and for a few days their meals would be cheese free, but then he would forget and go right back to his old habits. Jordan would again remind him about the health risks and the circle continued.

During the three months following their wedding, Woody and Jordan had found a three bedroom apartment that they felt they could afford and moved in after a short argument over who would get which bedroom. Other than that life went on pretty much as usual. One minute rushing by so fast that Jordan felt out of control and others, moving so slow that she wondered how she would ever stand the boredom. Being seven months pregnant was not fun either. She had to pee every few minutes, and it made getting work done very difficult! Not to mention the constant teasing from Bug and Nigel. Even though she threatened both their lives on nearly a daily basis, it didn't have the desired result and the teasing continued.

Clara Rose had been giving Nigel weekly tarot readings for months now and helping him to come to an understanding of his sexual orientation. The reason none of his relationships with women had ever worked out was because he was gay. It took some time for Nigel to even admit that Clara was right, but as she always said, "The cards don't lie."

Once he had openly admitted this to her it because easier for her to advise and guide him. The cards clearly told her there was someone that Nigel worked with that he had feelings for. No matter how many different ways Clara brought this up, all Nigel would do was deny it.

Then on one visit, Nigel came in to tell her that his best friend was going through a really hard time. Bug was lonely and depressed because of it. Just by the way Nigel spoke of him let Clara know that this was who he had feelings for. In her not so subtle way, Clara advised that if Bug was lonely, it was a perfect time for Nigel to ask him out.

After spitting and sputtering around a while Nigel finally admitted that was what he wanted to do. So with Clara's blessing, Nigel set off determined to give it a try. Unfortunately things did not go as he had expected or hoped that they would. Bug had assumed the invitation to go out to a movie and grab a bite to eat was just an invitation from a friend, not the date that Nigel had meant it to be!

During a quiet moment in the lab, Nigel had casually asked, "Bug, how would you like to have some dinner and then hit the theater with me tonight? I know of at least three great movies playing right now."

"I don't know…I might just go home and watch some TV instead. I'm not very good company right now," he replied with a glum look.

"That's exactly why we need to go, old chum! We need to cheer you up! Come on, we always have a grand time together!" Nigel urged.

Bug hesitated another few moments and then said, "Well I guess a guys night out on the town might be fun, but dinner and a movie is kind of date-like. Why don't we head to Max' bar, shoot some pool, have a few drinks, heck, Max might even give us a couple rounds on the house!"

Nigel's shoulders sank. Maybe he had been too casual in his request to Bug. He had wanted this to be a date, but Bug clearly hadn't seen it that way. Should he say something? Or let it go with just a laugh? Squaring his shoulders as he remembered Clara Rose's encouragement, he cleared his throat and answered, "What if it was a date?"

To be continued…


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Bug looked startled and then grinned. Nigel's heart quickened as he took this as an encouraging sign, then Bug dashed his hopes again, "Then I guess we would have to find a couple of girls to go with us!"

Determined to take one last shot at it, Nigel shook his head and told him, "No girls Bug, just us…on a date…"

This time Bug actually looked stunned, "Oh," he said and then trying to appear nonchalant, rather than shocked, but failing miserably, he continued, "I had always wondered if you swung that…ummm were…well…"

"Bug," Nigel interrupted. "It's okay. I only just really admitted it to myself and one other today. Well I guess to two others now…"

"Who was the first?" Bug questioned, surprised to find out that he was a bit hurt not to be the first one to know.

"Clara Rose. I've been going to her for weekly readings for several months now and she's been seeing the truth in her cards for some time, but I just wouldn't admit it. But then when I saw how sad and lonely you've been lately and told her about it, she knew that you were the one…" he stopped, knowing he had already let too much slip to someone like Bug, who had a naturally inquisitive mind.

"The one…what?" Bug asked.

"I…ummm…" this time it was Nigel trying to stutter out an answer.

"Come on Nig! We've been friends for years! What is it you don't think you can tell me?!"

"The one Clara Rose sees me having a future with," Nigel blurted out.

"Future…as in a romantic future? Walk down the aisle, white picket fence, future?!"

"You forgot the 2.5 kids in that list," Nigel tried to kid.

"She saw us with children?!" Bug almost squeaked.

Nigel reluctantly nodded, "She said we would adopt two children."

"And you believed all this?!" Bug demanded.

"Well everything else she's ever predicted has come true. Look at the murder case she helped us to solve! And she told Jordan that she would end up with Woody, not that other guy! And they got married!"

"But Nig, we haven't even gone out and this woman is telling you we are going to have kids! Don't you think that is just a little far fetched?!"

"Not have, adopt," Nigel clarified. At Bug's confused look he added, "The kids, not have them, but adopt them."

"And I suppose this crazy woman also told you my answer to you asking me out? I mean she knows everything…right?!"

"No, she actually didn't tell me what you would say, that was why I was so nervous. But I'd like to think that sooner or later, if I keep asking, I would wear you down enough to say 'yes'. Well you would almost have to if we were going to adopt those children…So…ummm…what do you say? Will you go out with me?"

"Nig, you know me! I've always dated girls! I mean I've never even thought about dating guys!"

"So that's a 'no'?" Nigel questioned sadly.

"You know what? No, it's not a 'no'. I was always told it's good to try everything at least once in your life, so what the heck! Yes, I'll go out with you."

"You will!?" Nigel appeared astonished.

"Yep…but no hand holding, or kissing, or the like…agreed?"

"Ummm…sure Bug anything you say. Huh what movie do you want to see?"

"Nothing romantic…what all is playing?"

Nigel was able to recite off every movie playing and it only took a few minutes for them to settle on one. They also decided on a restaurant and before the silence after that could become uncomfortable Jordan came into the lab to see if the report she needed was finished. Both men looked guilty for using work time for personal things and promised her they would have it ready for her in fifteen minutes.

"Sure guys! I've heard that one before! I'm going to hand around here till you have it for me!" she insisted.

As soon as she said that she was staying Bug got to his feet and offered her the stool he had been using, "Your ankles have been a bit swollen lately Jordan, you should sit down," he told her.

With an affronted look she demanded, "How can you tell that when I have jeans on?!"

"You were waddle…ummm…wincing when I saw you walking down the hall earlier," Bug told her.

To be continued…


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Good save, but don't think I didn't catch what you meant to say! If I could get my hands on the idiot that devised all the 'extras' that went along with being pregnant, I sure as hell would make them go through it over and over again! I mean, don't get me wrong! I just love having to stop whatever I'm doing to go pee every ten to fifteen minutes! Then there is the varicose veins, stretch marks, swollen ankles, bigger boobs…"

"Hey now, that is a good one!" Bug protested, looking to Nigel for conformation, but Nigel only rolled his eyes.

With a glare at both men, Jordan told them, "I think I will wait for that report in my office. But don't think that I'm not going to hold you to that fifteen minutes!" With one more glare she stomped out, and regretted it the moment that she left the lab and hobbled back to her office to put her feet up on the couch as soon as she got there.

Standing staring at the calendar on the wall Jordan could hardly believe that it was still four weeks until her due date. She felt like she had been pregnant forever and she just wanted it over! To top it all off, she had another doctor's appointment today, and tonight they were supposed to be at her dad's bar for an unsolved case night.

Last night Woody had put the finishing touches on the nursery and when she'd seen all he had done, in an uncharacteristic moment of appreciation she had kissed him. Now, she had been aiming for his cheek, but he hadn't realized that the kiss was coming at all and had turned his head to ask her something just as it was happening so the kiss she'd intended for his cheek had landed on his lips.

Woody had been very surprised to find himself being kissed. In the months that they had been married the fact that he loved her had become a known fact, as well as the fact that Jordan really didn't know hew she felt at all. In Woody's mind this kiss was telling him that had changed and he lost no time in taking her in his arms and returning the kiss.

Strangely, Jordan found that she didn't mind this at all. She sighed and melted into his embrace, happy to return it. Her arms crept up around his neck and they became lost in each other for quite some time, until the baby decided to make himself known and kicked Woody.

This unexpected action startled him into pulling back enough to look down at her stomach. Jordan was suddenly embarrassed by the kiss and her reaction to it, as well as what the baby had done and found herself apologizing, "I am so sorry Woody!"

"Hey it's okay, you can't control what the little guy does. Ummm, Jordie we really should decide on a name for him, its only a month until he will be here."

Glad that the subject was not going to be about the kiss, she was happy to discuss anything else, but that. They spent over an hour going through the baby name books she had and actually narrowed it down to three possibilities by bed time.

They said awkward good nights to each other and went to their own rooms.

In the morning Woody had rushed out without eating, saying that he needed to get to the station early. Because of her doctor's appointment Jordan would be going into work later that usual.

The appointment went off without a hitch, the doctor telling her all the same things. She was doing well and so was the baby and the only change he wanted to make was to start seeing her every week instead of bi-monthly so he could better track her progress to her due date. Jordan made her next appointment and left the office.

That evening she was in her room changing clothes to go to her dad's place when she heard Woody call out to her, "Jordan, are you ready to go?! You know your dad hates it when we are late!"

"You can always blame me," she called out.

"I don't need to do that, your dad knows it's you," he replied.

To be continued…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Yeah, well, I don't know why we need to do this tonight anyway," she almost muttered.

But, Woody, who was standing right on the other side of the door heard her. "It's because he wants to spend some time with us before the baby is here. I'm sure he remembers how hard it is the first several weeks with a new baby to get out anywhere. Also he wants to have LaVon meet the whole group. She's never done one of these unsolved cases, has she?"

Jordan opened the door to find him almost nose to nose with her. Woody backed up as she answered, "Heck no! Don't you remember?! The last one of these that we did, she was one of the characters! I sure hope that no one mentions that to her!"

"The only one I can think of with little enough tact to do that is your Aunt Meredith, and she won't be there."

"Thank heaven for that! I still want to take a heavy object to her head for what she did to AJ!"

"Jordan you do remember that I am a police detective, don't you?!" Woody inquired.

"Ummm, yeah…so?"

"What you are talking about doing to your aunt is a crime!"

"So?! Haven't you ever said that you wanted to kill someone without really meaning it?"

"No," he told her, and as they headed to the door he added, "The only one I've ever said that about was Clark Palmer…and I meant it."

That ended the conversation quite completely and the ride to her dad's bar was made in silence.

Not unexpectedly, they were the last ones to arrive. Max rolled his eyes when the finally came in and asked what they wanted to drink. Woody asked for a beer and Max was about to strongly protest when Jordan said she would have one too.

Before he could protest, she held up a hand to stop him, and explained, "The doctor said that an occasional beer was fine at this stage in my pregnancy. If I plan to nurse, the hops in the beer aids in milk production."

Max looked around at the others to see if anyone would confirm her statement. He was surprised when it was LaVon that spoke up, "That is true Max. I was told the same thing when I was carrying Tuyen."

"Alright then," he conceded and went to get the drinks.

At the table, where Jordan and Woody had taken their seats, Lily eagerly said, "I didn't know you had decided to nurse the baby! That's wonderful news!"

Jordan looked a little cross as she replied, "I haven't made up my mind yet, but I wanted a beer. Pop doesn't need to know any different!"

Woody just shook his head as the others looked on in surprise.

Max returned with the drinks and they all settled down as their parts were being handed out.

The rolls that had been assigned were:

Nigel would be playing a younger Max that had investigated the case when it happened.

Bug would be playing Max's partner, Steve Jenkins.

Garret would be playing a cab driver, David Rollins.

Woody would be playing an unidentified Marine.

Lily would be playing Magnolia (Maggie) Orly.

LaVon would be playing Maggie's sister, Petunia Orly.

Max had taken the part of Maggie's son.

Jordan had then been given the part of the unidentified kidnapper.

"My partner, Steve and I got the call on a late August afternoon. It was a blistering hot day and we had to be dressed in suits and ties. We were called in to a shooting in front of the entrance to the airport. When we arrived we found a woman dead from a single gunshot to the heart. It wasn't until hours later that we found out there had been a kidnapping as well."

To be continued…


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Lily looked up from her folder and announced, "It seems like I was at the airport with the intention of leaving town. There was no luggage found by the body, so it looks like I was in a real hurry. Maggie…ummm, I'm an unwed mother of a four year old boy. In the last four years the two of us have lived in three different cities."

When Lily paused in her story LaVon raised her hand. Max grinned at her and said, "You don't have to raise your hand, darling. If you have something relevant to say, you can just speak up."

"Well, it says here that Maggie's sister wasn't found until later, but she had information as to why Maggie moved around so much."

"Go ahead and tell us…ummm, what is your name?" Woody questioned.

"I'm LaVon, Woody," she answered with a confused look since they had met several times.

"I think he means your character name, Mrs. Trask," Nigel offered.

"Oh! I'm Magnolia's sister, Petunia Orly. Why in the world would parents do that to their children? Such awful names!"

With a sigh, Lily said, "I understand completely! At least I got a reasonably non-noxious flower name."

"Oh Lily! I didn't mean to insult you!"

"You didn't," she grinned. "But please tell us what you were going to about Maggie moving around so much."

LaVon nodded and looked down at her file again. "It seems that when Max and Steve came to see Petunia…me, my sister had already been dead five days."

"That was probably because it took quite a while to identify a person thirty six years ago," Bug interjected. "In fact, I'm surprised that they had her fingerprints on file at all!"

"She had been fingerprinted because she was a bank teller. It was probably part of her security check," Max reported.

"Ah, that explains it," Nigel chimed in; he nodded at LaVon to continue.

"Well, it says that my sister was a bank teller in New York when she got pregnant. That was when she stopped calling her sis…me for a while. When her baby was six months old, she moved to Washington DC. After a few months there she called…me, to tell me that the father of her child had been hitting her. She was afraid of him hurting the baby so they moved away in the hopes he would leave her alone. She called her son Clematis even though that was not the name his father insisted on putting on the birth certificate. It took him eighteen months to find her. Maggie kept watching for a chance to get away and took it when it did. This time she moved here to Boston to be closer to me. I lived on a small farm thirty minutes from the city. Because all Maggie knew how to do was be a bank teller, she needed to be in the city. I got a call from her on the day I later learned was that she died, saying she had seen Ellery in town and she was going to have to run away again. The next think I knew, Detective Cavanaugh and Jenkins were at my door with the news of her death and Clematis's kidnapping."

"Ellery? Do we have a last name for this guy? I'm guessing he is the kid's father?" Garret questioned.

LaVon looked at her notes and then at Max. He shook his head, "That was all Maggie had ever said to her sister about him."

"Okay, we have a murder and kidnapping at the airport, weren't there any witnesses?" Nigel asked.

"Yeah, and where do I come in?!" Woody wanted to know.

To be continued…


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"I think that is my cue," Garret answered. "I was a cab driver outside the airport that day. My name is David Rollins. I was reading the paper waiting for a fare to get into the cab and all of a sudden this Marine jumped in and shouted, 'follow that car!' As I started the engine I saw a woman lying on the sidewalk. I was going to stop, but the guy in back said, 'she's dead'. Then he told me that a guy grabbed the woman's kid, threw him in a car and sped off. The only thing he could say about the killer was that he had a dark suit on and a hat pulled down low on his face. The guy that he used was a 45."

Woody took up the story at that point, "It says here that we followed the car half way across town and then when it stopped I paid the driver and got out. Rollins asked what I thought I was going to do, and I told him I was a Marine and could handle myself. The driver shrugged and drove off."

"Later I heard on the car radio that the cops were searching for any witnesses to the shooting at the airport. When I got off of my shift I went in to the precinct to tell them what I knew. I hadn't seen anything happen, but I told them about the Marine and the kid being taken. They hadn't known about the kidnapping until that point. I also gave them the address of the building where I took him. That was all I could do," Garret reported.

"So what we have so far is an abused woman, moving around, trying to stay away from a guy named Ellery who we think is the father of her kid. She's shot and killed. The kid is grabbed and we have a cab driver that saw nothing, plus an unidentified Marine who thought he could save the day," Bug summarized. He then looked at Max and asked, "Did you and Steve go to the address the driver gave you?"

"We did. Look in your files," Max told Bug and Nigel.

"It was a cheap apartment building in a questionable section of town," Nigel reported. "Steve and I, being the young Max Cavanaugh, went door to door asking questions. No one knew anything, or at least weren't admitting it if they did. The manager told us that apartment 312 had been rented earlier that week, but the guy had paid in cash. No one in the building would say that had seen anything until we go to apartment 412. The elderly man that lived alone in that apartment said that he had heard an argument and what sounded like a gun shot followed by a child's voice saying something he couldn't make out. After that everything was quiet for a time, then the opening and closing of the door. That was the last he ever heard from there."

"So if I got there and found them, the gun shot could have been the guy Ellery killing me, then what happened after that?" Woody questioned, then added, "Also you have to wonder what effect two murders had on that kid?! His mother right in front of him and then if the old man in 412 is right, another one that could have been my character!"

"And what does a single guy want with a kid of that age?!" Jordan asked.

"Maybe he wanted his son all along. Remember it seems like he was always searching and finding Maggie and Clematis," LaVon spoke up.

"Good point, darling!" Max complimented her.

"So the things we are trying to figure out are what happened to this guy Ellery and the kid Clematis, plus the missing Marine," Bug seemed to be the one on point that night.

"Well, this all happened thirty six years ago, if we guess the mysterious Ellery to be in his late twenties to early thirties, that would make him sixty to seventy years old if he is still around now, and the kid, Clematis would be fortyish, certainly no longer a kid!" Garret commented.

As the evening wore on, the group ate and drank some more as they threw out different ideas and speculation on what could have happened to the three people in question. But at the end of the night, Max's unsolved case was still just that, unsolved. However, everyone there had a good time trying to figure things out and LaVon, who has just done this for the first time said she was looking forward to doing it again.

It was a week later after her next doctor's visit, that Jordan had only taken three steps out of the office on her way towards her car, when a cold chill ran down her spine. She felt like she was being watched!

To be continued…


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Jordan looked around the parking lot to see who might be staring at her, but saw no one paying any particular interest in her. However, no matter how hard she tried to shake off the feeling, she couldn't get past the feeling that she was being watched.

She got into her car and drove to work by a very circuitous route. By the time she finally arrived she felt that she was no longer being observed. Walking into the building she wondered if she should tell anyone what she had felt. Would they tease her about hormones ruling her hand or tell her she was just being paranoid? Jordan had a feeling that Lilly would believe her, but the problem with that is Lilly would go overboard in her reactions. She would probably insist Woody be called and then demand that Jordan have round the clock police protection.

By the time the elevator arrived at her floor Jordan had decided not to say anything. It had probably only been her imagination anyway, she told herself. The only problem with all that was one name kept lingering in her mind…Clark Palmer.

His body hadn't been found in that plane crash, so he was somewhere out there in the world, still alive to torment her, if he had the desire to. This was his child she was carrying. He had known about the baby before he disappeared. Last, but not least, she was just one month from her due date.

If he somehow wanted to cause trouble for her and the baby this would be the time to do it.

Her work day at the morgue was as busy as ever even if she no longer ran out into the field to solve cases. These days it was all she could do to be twenty steps from a bathroom! This kid she was carrying had the bad habit of pressing hard against her bladder.

It was finally time to leave for the day and she had all but forgotten the feeling of being watched from earlier in the day. That was until she stepped out of the building on her way to her car and that feeling hit her all over again. She stopped cold and visually searched every surrounding person and then building around her to see if she could spot someone staring at her. Just like earlier in the day, she could see nothing out of the ordinary, so she slowly and carefully made her way to the car. All the way home, she kept watch in her mirror, to see if she could observe anyone tailing her. Even though she didn't spot anyone, she couldn't shake the earlier feeling that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Over a hearty bowl of broccoli and cheese soup that Woody had made for dinner, Jordan brought up the subject. "Twice today I got the feeling that someone was watching me."

"Jordie, you're a beautiful woman! I'm not surprised when that happens, but if anyone should ever…"

"Woody! It wasn't that kind of look! I don't have a problem with guys giving me that once over, even if I have to wonder at their sanity when I look like I am trying to shoplift a basketball these days! This was more a creepy-stalker kind of feeling and I couldn't help but remember that Clark Palmer is still out there somewhere."

"You think Palmer was watching you?!" Woody exclaimed and jumped to his feet knocking his chair over in the process. He stalked back and forth across the dining area waving his hands as he demanded, "If you even _thought_ he was around and watching you why didn't you call me right away?! Jordie you know how dangerous this guy can be! Why wouldn't you let me know about this?!"

"Woody! If you will let me, I will try and tell you why! After the first time this morning I convinced myself it was just my imagination. Then tonight when it happened again, I was on my way home and I told you as soon as I got here!"

He turned on her with a glare, his concern for her wellbeing making him react more harshly than he'd intended, "Jordan that wasn't the lead as you walked in the door! You took off your coat, kicked off your shoes, complained about your feet hurting, and then ran to the bathroom. When you got back you peeked in the pot, fussed about cheese soup, and then set the table! It wasn't until we were sitting here that you let this little gem drop!"

To be continued…


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"What would you have done differently if I had told you twenty minutes sooner? Both times I thought I was being watched, not followed! By the time I had got to both places I was going the feeling was gone. It was all probably nothing anyway. I've just had HIM on my mind a lot lately since we've been talking about names for the baby."

"Jordan, I would rather play this safe than sorry. I'm going to have an officer assigned to you for the next few days until we are sure things are okay."

"No, no, no! There is no need for anything like that! I know I should have just kept my mouth shut!"

Woody stopped his pacing and came to kneel down in front of her chair, taking both of her hands in his he told her, "Jordie, you know that this did really did concern you or you wouldn't have told me at all! Don't you see that I need to do this to keep you and the baby safe?!"

"OKAY, maybe you're right, but there really isn't any need for a bodyguard. I will just be extra careful and keep you posted if it happens again."

He looked her in the eye before asking, "Are you sure Jordie? You won't try and be brave or tough, and not tell me? You will let me know anytime you sense, or feel, or see anything out of the ordinary?!"

"Yes Woody, I promise," she told him, mainly to calm him down and get him off the subject. If there was one thing in the world that she wanted to think of less than Clark Palmer, she couldn't for the life of her tell you what it was!

The topic did come up a couple more times during the evening, but each time she made Woody the same promise and by bedtime he had finally let it go.

In the morning, however, Jordan could tell that it had not been forgotten. Woody made a point of walking her out to her car and standing watch as she drove away. That wasn't all though, when she arrived at work the building's security guard was waiting near her parking spot to walk with her into the building. He also told her that she was to be sure to let him know when she was ready to leave for the day so he could walk out with her. Jordan heaved a resigned sigh and told him she would.

It was just her luck that of anyone on the staff that saw the security guard incident, it would have to be Lily! The entire ride up in the elevator Lily pelted her wit one question after another, not even giving Jordan time in between them to answer any of them, as if she planned on doing that anyway! By the time they arrived at their floor Jordan had had enough and snapped, "His wife is pregnant too and he wanted to know what sexual positions Woody and I preferred this late in my time!"

Lily's mouth fell open and her eyes grew as big as saucers. Jordan thought she had finally shocked her friend into silence, but she had once again failed to realize Lily's resiliency. A second later in the stillness following Jordan's comment, Lily demanded, "So you and Woody are finally sleeping together?! I am really surprised that after waiting this long that you didn't wait until after the baby was born, but maybe it was one of those moments of uncontrolled desire that neither one of you could wait one moment longer…"

Jordan rolled her eyes, threw her hands up in the air, and walked away in the middle of what Lily was saying. But of course, with the group of people she worked with that was in no way the end of the matter. In the break room where she was getting her first cup of non decaff coffee, both Nigel and Bug were there with questions at to when her marriage had become 'real'. They had both known she and Woody had only married because of the coming baby, and had privately placed bets with each other as to when that would change, so this was why they wanted to know how long the two of them had been sleeping together.

To be continued…


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Jordan glared at them and took her precious cup of 'real' coffee to her office. Woody had switched all the coffee in their apartment to decaff months ago and the only place she cold get the real stuff was at work. Her husband had tried to get Lily to make the same change at work, but when Garret found out he threatened to fire her! Lily had then put in a second pot, clearly marked 'for Jordan only', but it was never touched.

Of course, just as soon as she slammed the door of her office closed, the baby shifted and she had to head to the bathroom. Glaring at anyone who even looked like they were going to talk to her, she made her way there and back without talking to anyone.

Back in her office once again, she stared at the mini mountain of paperwork she was behind on and pulled a file towards her. Since she was already in a bad mood, she figured she might as well tackle some of the backlog. Jordan had a hard time trying to imagine the stack that would be waiting for her when she got back from her maternity leave!

By the time her stomach growled telling her that it was lunch time, Jordan was truly sick of paperwork…change that…she had been sick of paperwork before she started and now she was even more so! However, because she had been able to work uninterrupted, except for bathroom runs, she had her mountain down to one measly file!

She thought about doing it before going to lunch.

She thought about the pleasure it would give her to have all of her work caught up on.

She thought of the look on Garret's face when she told him what she had accomplished.

She even gave a spiteful thought to the fact that it would be good he was already in the morgue when he had his heart attack.

But then she thought of what he might do and the extra amount of work he would pile on her head when he discovered she had nothing left to do.

Her hand retreated from the file as if it were on fire! She grabbed her purse, and headed for the elevator telling the receptionist that she was going to lunch.

Jordan was thrilled to find out that there had been a multi car accident on the freeway and that there were several fatalities on their way in. Well, she wasn't actually thrilled that the people were dead, but in all honesty, if there wasn't death, she would be out of a job.

She was suited up and ready when Garret arrived with the first two of the eight bodies from the accident. Both Garret and Woody were in totally agreement that at this stage in her pregnancy there would be no late nights for her and even though Jordan pretended to resent their decree, she was secretly glad of it, because by 5pm she was so tired that she was more than ready to go home.

When she got home she relayed the amusing story of what she had told Lily about the security guard and her and Woody's sexual positions of choice. She had expected to have a good laugh with him about it, but instead, Woody had looked hurt, and after excusing himself, left the room. It wasn't until then that it dawned on her how the man that was in love with her, who wanted to have a sexual relationship with her, might react to that kind of story.

Jordan thought about telling him she was sorry when he came back into the room later, but she had learned well from Max that Cavanaugh's preferred to hide their heads in the sand, and hope things just went away, so that was what she chose to do.

It took them a total of three days to finish up the work from the accident, and Jordan was glad of the work. She would much rather be doing autopsies than paperwork any day of the week!

Meanwhile, as Jordan enjoyed the work she was doing, Woody was not so happy with his current workload. He had looked up from a phone call that had just ended to see his boss standing next to his desk. The stack of files in his hands and the apologetic look on his face told their own story. It was the time of the year every cop or detective on the force hated. It was time to review all of the unsolved cases that were still considered active even if there had been no action on them in a long time. The cases remained active until the statute of limitation ran out on the crime. In some cases it was only a few years, but as with a murder case, that one was never closed until it was solved. So every year they had to at least take a look at the cases to see if there were any new leads before putting them away for another year.

To be continued…


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"That stack is awful big boss, surely those can't all be for me?!" Woody asked hoping he was right.

"Sorry Hoyt, this year there just seems to be a huge load. We all have the same stack on our desk. These are yours. Get through them as quick as you can, but be through too."

"Alright," he sighed, pulling the top file towards him and starting to read.

Woody was pretty pleased with himself when he got three of the cases taken care of by the end of the day. He thought, 'maybe this years unsolved cases wouldn't be so bad after all!' The next day, however, he drew a new case and didn't even have a chance to look at the old ones still on his desk.

It just must have been that time of the year, because in Falls Church, Virginia Colonel Sarah Mackenzie, along with the rest of the JAG staff, were also being given stacks of old unsolved, still open, cases to go through and review. Mac had been through this before and as much as she hated it, she knew that it had to be done.

The second case in her stack almost brought her to tears. She had called Mrs. Iola Manors, who had reported her Marine husband missing over three decades ago. He was a part of the 7th Marine Company and had called her to say that he and his men had been a part of Operation Swift Play. He was being honorably discharged and was on his way home from Viet Nam, he had never made it. She graciously thanked Mac for the call saying, "It is very sweet of someone to call every year and let me know that my Kelly has not been forgotten, even if he has never been found."

For two days Woody couldn't get back to the old cases, but finally on Thursday he managed another good day at getting through them. He finished five and was almost at the halfway point.

On Friday morning he pulled the case file on the top of the stack and began to read it. A young man, the coroner had guessed to be in his late twenties, had been found naked, badly beaten, and shot. His body had been dumped in an alley. Woody read the file completely and saw there were no witnesses or any new information since it had happened. He put the file aside and reached for the next one.

However, throughout the day, the first case of the morning bothered him. When he went to lunch he took the file with him and read it over again. The man was never identified because then there had been no such thing as a database for fingerprints, blood types, and DNA. He wondered if running those things now would be of any use on a case that old? Looking at the date he realized 1968 would make it a very long shot, but he figured, 'what the hell' it was worth a chance.

That afternoon he spent working on identifying the unfortunate man left in the alley to rot. The tech in the lab told him not to hold his breath, he would be lucky to get an answer by Monday. With a sigh Woody put the case aside to wait and went on to the next in the stack.

Woody woke with a smile. It was Saturday and after what seemed like a longer than usual week he was looking forward to two days off. It would also give him sometime to figure out what was going on with his wife. Jordan had been acting oddly for the last few days. After the scare of someone watching her last week he wanted to make sure it hadn't happened again and that she had broken her promise to tell him about it. A strange smell distracted his thoughts so he got up, threw on a robe, and went to investigate why the apartment that he did all the cooking in, unless they had take out, suddenly smelled like his grandmother's kitchen back in Wisconsin.

The sight that greeted him when he got to the kitchen made him stop in stunned open mouthed amazement. His very pregnant wife, who normally could barely reheat left overs without burning them, was flitting around barefooted, wearing a pair of men's boxers, and a long T-shirt that was stretched tight over her tummy. There was flour everywhere! In her hair, on her cheek, her hands, and belly as well as every counter top and even the floor. It looked like she had been up for hours if the amount of baked good was any indication.

To be continued…


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Woody had no idea how long he had stood there watching her, but it was clear that she was so deeply involved in what she was doing that she hadn't noticed he was there. He really couldn't believe his eyes! Jordan, his wife, the woman he had known for four years, who couldn't cook enough to keep herself alive was baking up a storm! It was as if she had been possessed by Martha Stewart!

When he could finally speak he demanded, "Jordan what are you doing?!"

She stopped cold, startled in the act of taking something out of the oven…the oven that until today, Woody was sure she didn't even knowhow to turn on…she looked over at him and with a perky grin that just wasn't her, Jordan replied, "I got up this morning and felt like baking."

"Jordan you don't know HOW to bake!" Woody retorted.

She looked around the kitchen at the many items that she had made and shrugged, "Apparently I do."

Still trying to process what he was seeing, Woody came into the room to assess all that she had done and then asked, "You had to have been up for _hours_ to do all this! What time did you get up?"

"I think it was about three," she replied cheerfully as she placed the cupcakes in her hand on the counter. "What would you like for breakfast? I made lots of things."

"I can see that," he stated as she handed him a plate and gestured around the room offering him his choice of all she had made.

Woody hesitantly chose a few things, knowing that just because something looked good it didn't always follow that it would taste that way. The fantastic smells that filled the room could have been from anything. He was still having a hard time believing all this had happened, but as Jordan handed him a cup of coffee with a smile that was untypical for her, he decided to take a chance and go along with it.

They had to move other baked goods aside to be able to put their plates on the table, but once they were settled, Jordan waited for his reaction to his food. He tentatively took a bite of the still warm blueberry muffin. It simply melted in his mouth! Woody was glad that his grandmother was no longer around so he didn't have to tell her that these were as good as the ones he remembered her making!

"Jordie these are amazing! Where in the world did you learn to make them? They taste just like the ones my grandmother used to make!"

"I should hope so! I called your mother for the recipe this morning."

"Why would you do that?!" Woody gasped. He was flabbergasted! Jordan had called his mother?! What in the world had she been thinking?! How had she identified herself to his mom?! Because he and Jordan had only married for the sake of the baby, they had a quick ceremony at the Justice of the Peace office. Even if he dreamed that one day the marriage would be real he knew his family would not truly consider him married unless it happened in a church. So he hadn't told his mother he had gotten married…now all he could do was inwardly cringe at what his mother must be thinking.

"I told you, I did it to get some recipes. Your mother is very nice by the way," Jordan informed him as she began to eat.

"Jordan, just how did the conversation go?!"

"Oh do you mean, did I tell her I was your wife that she didn't know you had?" she asked with a smirk.

"Ummm yes…"

"Then yes."

"Yes what?!"

"Yes, I had to tell her we were married when I called to ask what your favorite things for breakfast were. If I hadn't and I was making breakfast for you she might have thought we were just living together or worse yet, a one night stand. You wouldn't have wanted her to think that would you?" she asked.

Woody shook his head 'no' in answer all the while wondering if he would have actually been in less trouble for one of those reasons than he would be now that she knew he had gotten married without letting her know about it.

To be continued…


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Jordan did the length of time we had been married, or the baby, come up in the conversation?"

She took another sip of coffee before answering, "She asked, but by then I figured that you had a reason for not telling her about us, so I suggested that she should ask you." There was a pause before she asked softly, "Woody why didn't you tell her?"

He sighed, the explanation was so complicated, "I didn't know if you would really need me after the baby was born Jordan, and I just didn't want to get her hopes up for a daughter-in-law and grandchild if this wasn't going to last."

"Oh," was her only reply.

"I was hoping that after the baby was here and able to travel we might have taken a trip to Wisconsin so you all could meet each other."

"Really? You never said anything about that."

"We haven't talked much about anything to do with the future after the baby was born."

"I guess that's true. Maybe we should plan that trip after the baby is born, but don't forget dad's wedding, we can't be gone that weekend."

"We could plan on the first or second week in August. You would still be on maternity leave then and since I know my mother well, if we go the second week and you have to be back at work the following Monday, she won't be able to try and talk us into staying longer."

Jordan agreed and they finished eating. When the table was clear she went back to her baking and Woody left the room to make a call he was dreading.

His mother came on the line and he could picture her clearly in his mind. She would be standing in the kitchen talking on the wall phone mounted near the back door. She would have just wiped her hands on the apron she always wore while cooking or doing the dishes. Since his youngest sister had gone off to college last fall his mother was all alone in the big farm house. He tried to remember to call and talk to her at least once a month. But now, if he told her the truth about how long he and Jordan had been married, she would surely demand to know why he hadn't told her.

Taking a moment for a deep breath he opened the call with, "Hi mom, how are you?"

"Don't you 'hi mom' me Woodrow Aloysius Hoyt! Why did I have to learn that my only son, who used to be my pride and joy, had gone and gotten himself married from his wife instead of him?! Was it too much of an effort for you to pick up the phone to tell me that?! Let alone not invite me or your sisters to the wedding! I knew letting you move to the big city was a bad idea! But, no, you just had to go to make your mark somewhere other than this small little town! As if this little town hasn't been good enough for your family for four generations now!"

As his mother continued to rant, he thought of the wacky psychic lady Clara Rose and wondered what would happen if the two of them were ever in the same room together?

"You should have stayed here at home and married that nice sweet Mary Sue Allenbee. She would have been perfect for you and I would probably have two or three grandchildren by now. It's not as if your sisters are in any hurry to give me any, heaven knows! I bet that wife of yours is a big city girl! One of those career types! She is probably all involved in her job and won't want to have any children! Oh, Woody, why did you go and marry a girl like that?!"

This was where Woody just had to step in and stop his mother from making comments like that about Jordan. "Mom! Stop! Jordan isn't like that! She is the sweetest, most wonderful, woman I have ever met, and I won't have you talking like that about her!"

"Oh Woody! You're in love!"

To be continued…


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

There was what Woody thought was a very long pause as a thousand thoughts went through his mind. How did she know? Could he admit THAT to his mother? Should he tell her 'yes'? What would she do if he did say 'yes'? Would it change how she would react when she learned how long they had been married? He had already made the decision not to tell her that the child Jordan was carrying wasn't his. He would take the heat for that one and would protect Jordan from anymore hurt about the baby. He knew that his mother's deep set Mid Western values would be hard pressed to accept that her son had conceived a child out of wedlock, but the truth would be even harder to deal with. So, he would keep Jordan's secret even if he would gain his mother's disapproval.

Taking a deep breath, he answered her, "Yes mom, I love her. I have ever since we first met. She is the only one for me, big city career girl or not! Jordan is the one."

"I'm so glad Woody! That is how your father and I felt about each other all the years we were together. I could never bring myself to think about another man even after he was gone. If you love your Jordan that way, then she has to be the right one! She did sound very nice on the phone this morning. When are you going to bring her here so we can all meet her?"

"We were just talking about that today mom, and I was thinking about the second week in August. How does that sound to you?"

"Why so long Woody? That's six weeks away!"

"Jordan's father is getting married at the end of July and Jordan wants to be in town for that."

"Oh well, I guess she would want to be there for that. Is your poor Jordan a product of a broken home? Children of divorce always have the feeling of divided loyalties."

"No mom, her parents aren't divorced. Jordan's mother was murdered when she was just a little girl."

"Oh the poor dear! That must have been so awful for her! Did they ever find the person that did such a horrible thing?!"

"No mom, her murder was never solved even though Jordan's father was a cop. They never found the guy."

"Oh my. Your poor Jordan! Growing up without a mother! I do so hope that hasn't turned her against the idea of being a mother herself. I know what a good father you will be Woodrow and I would shudder to think of you married to someone who doesn't want children."

"At first Jordan didn't think she wanted a baby, but I managed to convince her that she wouldn't be doing it alone. I would be with her the whole way and that was when she relented and decided it was okay."

"That is wonderful Woody! Now I know the two of you haven't been married very long, but do you have any idea on when you might bless me with a grandchild?"

"Yes I do mom…ummm mom are you sitting down?" he asked, knowing good and well that if she was at the kitchen phone she wouldn't be.

"No Woody I'm…now why would you want to know that? Oh! Wait just a minute! Is that girl already pregnant?! Woodrow Aloysius Hoyt did you go and get her pregnant before you married her?! I am shocked and appalled at you! I know I raised you better than that! To think that a son of mine would do something like that! Oh Woody how could you?! Think of what this will do to the family name! The disgrace! I won't be able to hold my head up in church any longer! And me the leader of the Ladies Altar Society! They will probably demand that I step down! Oh Woody!"

To be continued…


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Now mom, I know this isn't the way you would want things to happen, but it did. So you can either accept that you have a new daughter-in-law, and a grandson on the way, or Jordan and I can cancel our visit to Wisconsin…"

"A son! You are having a son Woody?! That is wonderful! Have you picked out names yet, or is it still too soon for that? I could have your sisters' start working on lists of name suggestions. What do you think?"

"Maybe for the next one mom. We have our choice already narrowed down to three names."

The "Oh," his mother uttered at that sounded a little disappointed, but it was soon clear that she decided to focus on more positive things. "How soon will we get to meet this little fellow? It would be wonderful if he was here by Christmas! Wouldn't that make it a special holiday this year?! So Woody, when is your Jordon due?!"

"Ummm mom, you won't have to wait until Christmas to meet him. We will be bringing him with us in August. Jordan is due in three weeks," he said the last part in almost a whisper and then waited for the maternal fallout after the long shocked pause.

"Oh Woody…why in the world did you wait so long to marry Jordan?! What must her father thought of you! I thought your father and I taught you better than this!"

He could hear the tears in her voice.

"Mom, Jordan and I have been married for months now, this isn't a recent thing like you thought. I was afraid to tell you because I knew how you would react to the fact we didn't have a church wedding and that Jordan was already expecting when we got married."

"So what you are telling me was that if your Jordan hadn't called this morning to ask for recipes, I would still not know about any of this?!"

"Ummm I guess so mom. I'm sorry."

"Just when did you think you might tell your family about your new family?! Would you have waited until your second or third child was born?!"

"No mom, I was planning on waiting until Jordan felt the same way about me as I feel about her and then I hoped I could talk her into a church wedding," Woody admitted.

"Oh Woody! You don't think your Jordan loves you?! Why would she be having your child and have married you if she didn't love you?!"

"Mom, the baby was unexpected and Jordan married me because she is a big city career girl and she knew she wasn't able to raise the baby alone. I love her and wanted her to be my wife, so I assured her we could do it together and I am just hoping she will grow to love me."

"Of course she will! You are a wonderful boy and handsome to boot! Why wouldn't she fall in love with you!? Now I am going to go up to the attic as soon as we are off of the phone and start putting baby things together for the two of you. You say she is due in three weeks?! I want the date so I know when to arrive!"

"Arrive?!" Woody practically squeaked.

"Yes arrive! Do you really think that I am going to let a big city career girl and my baby boy manage a new baby on their own?! I raised you and your four sisters while your father worked this farm! I can surely manage one more at this advanced old age of mine!"

"Oh come on mom! You're not that old!" he protested.

"And don't you forget it! Now when is her due date? Not that baby's usually arrive on the date set, but it will still give me a good idea."

"The ninth mom."

"Okay, then I will be there on the eighth. Now I need to get busy so you go and tell your Jordan that help is on the way," she told him and hung up before he could say anything more.

To be continued…


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Now he had to go and tell Jordan that his mother was on the way and if she gave him any trouble about it, he was going to be sure and point out that it was all her fault! If she hadn't called his mother she wouldn't be on the way to Boston!

Woody was very surprised when Jordan, rather than being upset that his mother was arriving to help out with the baby, was instead relieved.

At work on Monday, the staff looked on in stunned silence as Jordan brought in the left over baked goods from her Saturday cook-a-thon. The reaction turned to shock when she told them she had made everything herself. Needless to say, they were very cautious about trying anything even though it all looked good.

Lily, the ever loyal friend, bravely reached out for the first item and sighed in delight when the red velvet cupcake she tried was delicious. After that it didn't take long for the others to choose something as well. They were soon singing her praises.

Woody heaved a sigh on Monday morning when he called over to the lab to find out that his request was still fourth down on their list. He was told that they might have something for him that afternoon.

He was reading through another one of the old cases when his phone rang. The lab had gotten a hit on the fingerprints of John Doe 23865. He was a Marine Captain, Kellson Manors.

A light went on in Woody's head…a Marine killed August 21st, 1968…thirty six years ago…Holy Fu…Fudgecicles!

Sometimes the wheels of the government grind slowly, but there is the occasional instance when the opposite is true. When Detective Woodrow Hoyt put in the request to have his unidentified body's fingerprints checked against all databases, it flagged the military one that allowed his identity to be found.

The fact that this particular Marine had been reported missing by his wife thirty six years ago was also noted and a call was put in to Colonel Sarah Mackenzie who was reviewing the old case file.

Knowing the Admiral's connection to Boston, and the fact that he and Meredith had just ended their engagement, Mac was hesitant to go and ask him if she could travel to Boston to try and resolve this old case. She really wanted to give some closure to his wife that had waited all these years for news of her husband.

Taking a deep breath she headed to his office determined to see this case through. Moments later, she was standing in front of his desk presenting her case, "So you see Sir, they seem to have found his body in Boston and I would really like to go up there to see if I can get some answers."

AJ looked up at her, all the memories of his trip to Boston running through his head and then the image of Meredith in her bedroom with her Professor. It didn't slip his mind that Mac was the one that had introduced them. All that took seconds to play through his mind as he answered her, "See if this can't be settled with a phone call and then if not you can go as long as you take care of any pressing current cases first."

"Yes Sir! And thank you Sir! I am sure Mrs. Manors will be happy to finally have some answers to what happened to her husband."

"You're welcome Colonel, dismissed." He sat there for a moment after Mac had left his office and then reached into his top desk drawer and pulled out a wedding invitation LaVon Trask had invited him to her wedding to Max Cavanaugh, the brother of his ex-fiancée. He had wondered what she was thinking when he first got the invitation, but then he noticed a small hand written note that was not a part of the formal invitation.

LaVon had written; 'AJ, I know you would not want to come to the wedding if Meredith was going to be in attendance. She called Max a week ago and said she would be spending the entire summer in Spain and wouldn't be able to make the wedding. She shipped a gift along with another apology so I hope that you will come since she will not be here.'

AJ took out the RSVP card and wrote 'one' in the attendance box and put it in his outgoing mail stack.

To be continued…


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Mac placed the call as soon as she was back in her own office. She waited to be connected and then eagerly started to speak when Woody came on the line. "Detective Hoyt, this is Colonel Sarah Mackenzie. I know you don't know me, but I believe you came in contact with my CO, Admiral AJ Chegwidden the last time he was in Boston…"

"Yes, I did. How can I help you Colonel?" Woody asked when Mac paused for breath.

"Well, I was just notified that you ran the prints of a Marine Captain Kellson Manors. I was recently assigned his missing person case when the office was doing it's review of unsolved cases."

"Really?! That was how I got his case as well! But on this end it was an unidentified murder victim."

"Murder?! Oh dear, I was hoping to be able to give his wife some closure, not more questions."

"You might want to hold off on talking to her then because I have come across another old case that might shed some light on what happened to Captain Manors."

"Really?!" Mac inadvertently echoed his exclamation from earlier, "I don't suppose you could use some help with the case? The Admiral has given me permission to travel to Boston if this phone call doesn't sort everything out."

"I would be happy to have all the help I can get Colonel. My wife is expecting a baby in just a few weeks and I would like my desk as clear as possible so I can take some free time to be with her."

"Then I would be glad to come. Let me give you a call as to when I will arrive when I get things arranged."

"That would be fine Colonel, and please give the Admiral my best."

"I will," Mac answered, and hung up. She spent the rest of the morning clearing up her schedule and making her flight arrangements. Mac was pleased when she could call Detective Hoyt to say that she would be in Boston that evening.

After catching a cab from the airport and checking into her hotel, Mac set out to get some dinner. When Bud and Harriet found out she was going to Boston for the first time they both insisted that she had to try food that the city was famous for.

Harriet enthused about Boston clam chowder and even though Mac wasn't really a soup fan, and had never eaten clams in her life, she promised to give it a try. Bud also wanted her to try a favorite food of his, which Mac felt was much more likely that she would like, Boston baked beans. Baked beans had always been a favored side dish to her beloved Beltway Burgers, so she happily promised to try them as well. Harriet had let it go on as long as she could before she just had to rescue Mac from her husband's joke. She informed Mac that Boston baked beans were peanuts covered by a hard candy shell. Bud looked sheepish while Mac privately thought that she might still like them better than the clam chowder.

However, a promise was a promise and she headed down to the hotel dining room and ordered a bowl of clam chowder. After one spoonful she called the waiter over and placed an order for a hamburger with a side of baked beans!

The next morning she grabbed a cab and headed down to the precinct to meet with Detective Hoyt.

Woody had requested the case file on Max's old case the day before after talking to Colonel Mackenzie on the phone. When she arrived he wanted to go over it with her to see if she might come to the same conclusion as he had.

At home he had debated on whether he should tell Jordan that he was going to be working with someone from JAG on these cases. He had been taught that honesty was always the best policy and he knew she would be hurt if she found out about it after the fact. So at dinner he let her know that Colonel Mackenzie was coming into town. As soon as Jordan heard the news, she started crying and Woody regretted his decision.

To be continued…


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

When he got her calm enough to find out why she had reacted the way she had, he tried to reassure her. Jordan was sure that since Mac knew the truth about who the baby's father was, that now everyone in Boston would as well.

Woody reminded her that the people he worked with were the only ones that didn't know. Both her family and co-workers already did. He also reminded her that Colonel Mackenzie was here to work with him not to gossip about Woody's home life.

Woody hadn't been expecting a beautiful woman to be led to his desk the next morning. Instead, he had thought he would be meeting a manly looking female Marine. He quickly tried to hide his surprise as Mac introduced herself.

Offering her a cup of coffee before they got started he apologized for it's strength saying, "I think it's left over from the night shift."

Mac took a healthy swig and pronounced it 'perfect'.

Woody shook his head as at least one Marine stereo-type remained true in his mind. "Here are both case files for you to take a look at," he told her.

She quickly skimmed both and then asked, "I don't suppose any of the physical evidence has been preserved this long?"

Sadly he shook his head, but brightened when he offered, "No, but there are still a few of the principles of the case available to talk to."

"Really?! That would be great!"

"Petunia, Magnolia's sister is in a nursing home on the other side of town and the junior detective on the case was Max Cavanaugh. He owns a bar near by and we could stop in there for lunch after talking to Petunia if you like."

"I would!" Mac smiled at him. "I met his daughter when she came to Virginia for her Aunt's bridal shower."

"I know," Woody admitted, and when Mac gave him an inquiring look, he told her, "Jordan and I are married."

"Oh! I had no idea. Congratulations!"

"Thank you," Woody said and asked if she was ready to go and see Petunia.

He guided her out to his car and they headed across town to see Petunia Orly. The elderly lady was as much of a surprise to Woody as Mac had been.

They arrived at the nursing home and after asking for Ms. Orly, they were told she could be found in the common room at this time of the day, probably at the piano. However, when they walked into the room and saw the woman seated at the keys Woody just couldn't mentally accept this woman was someone named Petunia!

She was a large boned woman probably close to six feet tall when she was standing, her hair was swept up in a gunmetal gray bun and her hands easily had an octave and a half reach!

Seeing Woody's stunned look, Mac hid a grin and approached the woman. One thing she had learned since starting to work at JAG was never to prejudge any situation. She remembered the kidnapping case Bud had where the napped was a goat!

Smiling, she cleared her throat and asked, "Pardon me, Ma'am, but are you Ms. Petunia Orly?"

The woman stopped playing and turned in Mac's direction. "I am, and who might you be, young lady?"

"Ma'am, I am Colonel Sarah Mackenzie and this is Detective Woody Hoyt, we were hoping to ask you some questions about your sister Magnolia and her son."

"They've been gone nearly forty years now. Whatever interest could you have in them now?"

Woody spoke up, "We actually think we might have found a tie in to another case that might shed some light to what happened to them. Would you mind answering a few questions?"

"I guess not. I have always hoped that her son might still be out there somewhere and that we might meet again before I die."

"What can you tell us about him?" Mac asked her.

"Why don't we go into the garden to talk, it's very pleasant out there," Petunia said and pushed back from the piano. It was the first time Woody and Mac noticed she was in a wheelchair.

To be continued…


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Woody quickly offered to push her chair and Petunia smiled up at him. "Usually I prefer to get around on my own young man, but it is very rare these days that a handsome young man offers to do something for me, so just this once I will say yes."

Petunia pointed the way to a bench where Mac and Woody could sit while they talked. When they were settled she said, "So you want to know about little Clem. That was what I called him you see. I never could abide that name Maggie chose. Clem was a quiet little thing. Don't get me wrong he was very bright. He had already started to read at only three years old. But he was always so still. He would sit with a book or stare out the window for such a long time that you would forget he was in the room until he shifted or got up for something. One time I tried to get him to talk about his father, because Mac wouldn't tell me much about him, but little Clem just sat there and stared at me as if he hadn't heard my questions. A moment later, his mother called from the kitchen saying that she had milk and cookies for him and he ran off. He was a very secretive little boy."

"What about his looks Ms. Orly? There were never any pictures of your nephew found."

"He was very tall for his age, so when the three of us would go out together they always thought Clem was my son rather than Maggie's. She was so short. So I don't really know if that came from our side of the family or his father's, but the rest of his looks had to have come from that man. Little Clem had dark hair and eyes, his eyes were so dark, almost like holes in his face. Both Maggie and I had blond hair and green eyes. Clem almost looked foreign he was so dark."

"From the case file we read, you said you thought his father's name was Ellery. Do you remember a last name? Or anything more about him that might help us find him?" Woody asked.

Petunia sat quietly for a moment clearly trying to remember, but then sadly shook her head, "I know Maggie never mentioned his last name. All she would tell me about him was that he was tall, dark, and handsome, but he also was very controlling and later started to hit her whenever she would do something that displeased him."

"She ran away from him and kept moving to stay ahead of him or had he found her each time?" Mac wanted to know.

"He kept finding her. He was a very smart man. I kept telling her to come and live on the farm with me instead of working in banks, but she didn't want to be a burden. She wanted to support herself and Clem."

"Thank you for talking to us Ms. Orly, we will let you know if we are able to locate your nephew," Woody told her, then added as he got to his feet, "May I wheel you back inside?"

"No, I will stay out here for a while, but when you arrived you said there might be another case that connected to my sister's murder. Can't you tell me anything about that?" Petunia pleaded.

"Actually if Detective Hoyt and I are right, our other case might just be part of the same case. There was a young Marine outside the airport that saw your sister get shot and her son kidnapped. He jumped into a cab and followed the car that your nephew was abducted in. The next day the body of an unidentified man was found in an alley. When Detective Hoyt ran the man's fingerprints, he found out he was Captain Kellson Manors, a Marine returning from Viet Nam. We are hoping that by working both of these cases we might yet be able to find out what happened," Mac explained.

"That is the best news I have ever had about my sister and nephew! I certainly hope that you are able to solve both cases," Petunia said.

"We do as well," Woody stated.

"Please," Petunia said softly as the two of them were about to leave.

To be continued…


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 26

"I can try," Max responded, thinking how much this feisty Marine reminded him of his daughter. He closed his eyes for a moment trying to put himself in his own shoes almost forty years ago. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and began to speak, "My partner and I got the call while out on patrol. There had been a woman shot at the airport. We pulled up to find a crowd had already gathered. The woman had been shot once through the heart, there was no identification anywhere around: no purse, or wallet, or even luggage. The Coroner arrived to collect the body while we were questioning the people in the crowd. No one had seen anything. A family that arrived in a cab it seemed were the first ones to see the body. The wife and two children went inside so the wife could call the police, while the husband stayed with the body. That was when the spectators began to gather."

Max took a sip from the mug of coffee he had brought to the table for himself, then went on, "Steve, my partner, and I went back to the station to fill out a report. Meanwhile, the evening news had reported the woman's murder and that the police had no leads in the case. We were just finishing up our paperwork when the cab driver David Rollins came in. He told us about the Marine and where he had taken him plus the story of the kidnapping his passenger had told him about on the ride to the apartment building."

"Was the alley where the Marine's body was found behind that building?" Mac asked.

"No, it was several miles away," Woody told her.

"Then if Captain Manor's was killed at the apartment building, the killers would have needed a vehicle to transport the body there," Mac concluded.

"Another cab?" Woody guessed.

"No, moving a dead body in a cab is not something that would go without notice," Max stated.

"Okay then, they had to have their own vehicle," Mac nodded.

"Why do you think there was more than one adult in the picture, Mac? I am assuming you are not thinking the child was the other person you were talking about," Woody questioned.

"A Marine would not have gone into a situation like that without being on alert and even if he was unarmed it would have taken more than one person to get the jump on him."

"I had never put that together like that, but there were two twin beds in the apartment and both of them were unmade when Steve and I got there," Max added.

"What else can you remember about the apartment?"

"It was one of those cheap furnished places that you could rent for a day, week, month. No one was ever there long term. The furniture was sparse, two twin beds, like I said earlier, a couple of armchairs with a table between them. There was a small table with two wooden chairs near a counter that had a hot plate and an old coffee percolator on it. All of that was in the one room. Then there was a small wash room that had a shower, stool, and sink, there was hardly any room to turn around in there," Max reported.

"Was there anything at all that seemed out of the ordinary?" Woody pressed.

Max considered for a moment and then said, "It didn't seem important at the time, but there was one spot on the rug that seemed cleaner than the rest."

Mac and Woody's eyes widened and they sat up straighter in their seats. "Is it possible that place is still standing?" Mac questioned. "There would have to be so many "ifs" in play for this to work, but if there was even a chance that IF they had tried to clean up a blood stain and IF the building is still there and even IF they have replaced the carpet, but IF not the padding underneath it there might still be enough blood to test it. We might be able to match it to Captain Manor's!"

To be continued…


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"I can try," Max responded, thinking how much this feisty Marine reminded him of his daughter. He closed his eyes for a moment trying to put himself in his own shoes almost forty years ago. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and began to speak, "My partner and I got the call while out on patrol. There had been a woman shot at the airport. We pulled up to find a crowd had already gathered. The woman had been shot once through the heart, there was no identification anywhere around: no purse, or wallet, or even luggage. The Coroner arrived to collect the body while we were questioning the people in the crowd. No one had seen anything. A family that arrived in a cab it seemed were the first ones to see the body. The wife and two children went inside so the wife could call the police, while the husband stayed with the body. That was when the spectators began to gather."

Max took a sip from the mug of coffee he had brought to the table for himself, then went on, "Steve, my partner, and I went back to the station to fill out a report. Meanwhile, the evening news had reported the woman's murder and that the police had no leads in the case. We were just finishing up our paperwork when the cab driver David Rollins came in. He told us about the Marine and where he had taken him plus the story of the kidnapping his passenger had told him about on the ride to the apartment building."

"Was the alley where the Marine's body was found behind that building?" Mac asked.

"No, it was several miles away," Woody told her.

"Then if Captain Manor's was killed at the apartment building, the killers would have needed a vehicle to transport the body there," Mac concluded.

"Another cab?" Woody guessed.

"No, moving a dead body in a cab is not something that would go without notice," Max stated.

"Okay then, they had to have their own vehicle," Mac nodded.

"Why do you think there was more than one adult in the picture, Mac? I am assuming you are not thinking the child was the other person you were talking about," Woody questioned.

"A Marine would not have gone into a situation like that without being on alert and even if he was unarmed it would have taken more than one person to get the jump on him."

"I had never put that together like that, but there were two twin beds in the apartment and both of them were unmade when Steve and I got there," Max added.

"What else can you remember about the apartment?"

"It was one of those cheap furnished places that you could rent for a day, week, month. No one was ever there long term. The furniture was sparse, two twin beds, like I said earlier, a couple of armchairs with a table between them. There was a small table with two wooden chairs near a counter that had a hot plate and an old coffee percolator on it. All of that was in the one room. Then there was a small wash room that had a shower, stool, and sink, there was hardly any room to turn around in there," Max reported.

"Was there anything at all that seemed out of the ordinary?" Woody pressed.

Max considered for a moment and then said, "It didn't seem important at the time, but there was one spot on the rug that seemed cleaner than the rest."

Mac and Woody's eyes widened and they sat up straighter in their seats. "Is it possible that place is still standing?" Mac questioned. "There would have to be so many "ifs" in play for this to work, but if there was even a chance that IF they had tried to clean up a blood stain and IF the building is still there and even IF they have replaced the carpet, but IF not the padding underneath it there might still be enough blood to test it. We might be able to match it to Captain Manor's!"

To be continued…


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

"But they didn't do DNA testing back then. Even if all your IFS were there, the best we could do was get a blood type match," Woody stated.

"But it's one more piece than we have now and if you can find that cab driver we could possibly have another!" Mac was getting really excited at the potential prospects.

Woody watched in awe as she took the last bite of the huge burger that had been in front of her and marveled that she had finished all of it.

Max was happy that the case he had worked on so long ago might still be solved all these years later. He was glad to see these two young people so eager to find the answers to a case over three decades old. Then he remembered something that tickled him and he told the two at the table, "You know, if all else fails and you are at a dead end…you could always go and see Clara Rose!"

Mac tilted her head to the side trying to place the name as any she remembered from either of the case files. That was how she missed the horrified look on Woody's face at the suggestion. "I don't remember that name from either case file Mr. Cavanaugh, but if you think she is someone we should talk to, I wouldn't want to leave any stone unturned."

"First, please call me Max, and second, I was only kidding about Clara Rose. She is a local physic. I was just giving my son-in-law a hard time. He's met Ms. Rose a couple of times since she loves to call in random tips to the police. I think your Admiral even met her while he was here."

"Maybe she could tell me if I'll ever meet a guy I really want to marry," Mac sighed.

"I'd be happy to introduce you to her if you like," Woody offered with a smirk. "Meanwhile, since you're done eating we could take a drive to see if that apartment building is still there."

Mac wiped her mouth with her napkin and announced that she was ready to go.

Since it was early afternoon on a week day there was very little traffic to keep them from getting across town quickly.

On the drive they passed a florist shop and Mac gently reminded, "Don't forget your promise to Ms. Orly, Woody."

He looked confused for just a moment and then nodded that he remembered. "I'll stop on the way back if it's not too late by then," he told her. "Would you like to go with me tomorrow? You never did say how soon you had to be back to Virginia."

"Trying to get rid of me already?!" she teased and then added, "I can stay a few days. If I take much more than that the Admiral will be on my six!"

"Well, we wouldn't want that! Let's see how quick we can wrap this all up."

They were pleasantly surprised to find the building was still there and the sign out front said you could still rent rooms there for any length of time. "I can't believe this is still here, let alone still an apartment building," Mac said as they got out of the car.

Going inside they found a dingy foyer with a row of mailbox's along one wall, a check in desk on the other, and an elevator on the far wall. In the middle of the room there were a few ratty easy chairs with a couple of end tables topped with old newspapers and overflowing ash trays. "Charming," Mac commented quietly to Woody.

His arched brow and half grin was all she needed to know he agreed with her assessment of the place. Approaching the overweight, balding man at the desk, Woody asked to speak to the manager.

"You're looking at 'im, copper. Wadda ya want?"

"I'd like to find out if apartment 312 is vacant," Woody told him.

"Aw, fond memories of that one for you and the Mrs.?" he asked, smirking at Mac.

"She's not my wife!" Woody protested.

"Figured as much," the older man sneered.

To be continued…


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"We are here to investigate a murder!" Mac snapped at the smarmy man.

"Murder?! There ain't been no murder here! Not since I bought the place anyway!" he protested.

"When was that?" Woody asked.

"Six years ago! And we ain't had no murder! Been a few hum dingers of fights and a couple of minor shootings, but no one's gotten dead over it!"

"This murder happened a few years before you took ownership of this fine establishment. But we only just found a clue linking apartment 312 to the crime. We would just like to go up there and look around for a few minutes, just to get a feeling for where the killing might have happened," Mac said sweetly, giving the guy a big smile.

"Well, why didn't you say so at first?! Go'in to given a poor fellow a near heart attack. Surin enough if you want to see the place you can. It's empty now because this isn't our busy season." He turned around and pulled a key from one of the numbered cubby holes on the wall behind him. "I hope you won't mind me not comin' up with you, but my back has been bothering me somethin awful since the war," he smiled at Mac as he handed him the key and pointed to the stairs.

"What about the elevator?" Woody asked.

"Aw shucks that ain't worked since a year after I bought the place," he told Woody.

As they headed towards the stairs Woody muttered, "Maybe you should have it fixed!"

Mac suppressed a giggle as she nodded her agreement.

The climb to the 3rd floor was not a hardship on either of them because they both were required to be physically fit for their jobs. The walked down the hall to apartment 312 and even though the owner had told them the apartment was empty, Mac still knocked out of curtsey before using the key she'd been given.

Looking around the single room apartment Woody said, "Wow, how depressing."

"I bet some of this furniture could have been here thirty six years ago," Mac commented.

"I can certainly understand why no one stays here for any length of time," Woody responded pulling a small flashlight out of his picket. He shone it around the room looking for blood. The flashlight had a special filter on it that picked up blood traces even if they had been cleaned up.

Even though the room was not that big, Woody wanted to make sure he was doing a through job. Although he found many spots of what might have been drops of blood in the past, it wasn't until he'd been searching for about three minutes that he came upon an area of carpet that showed a large circle of blood. "Mac, here," he called out to her and then pointed out the spot.

Assessing the space she told him, "If we move the two easy chairs and end table we might be able to roll the rug back far enough to get to that spot."

He agreed and they began to work. Before very long at all, they were rolling up the corner of the rub. Mac and Woody turned to grin at each other when they found the dark rust colored stain in the carpet padding. Woody pulled out his pocket knife and cut out a square of the padding. Then he wrapped it in his handkerchief because he hadn't brought any evidence bags with him.

They replaced everything they had moved and went downstairs to return the key to the owner of the building. The man leered at Mac as she handed over the key and asked if she was single.

Woody, ever the chivalrous, boy scout, that he was, jumped in to help, telling the man, "No, she's my wife!"

At the same time Mac, who had always been able to take care of herself, stated, "I'm a lesbian."

The apartment owner's jaw dropped at these two comments and Woody had been married just long enough to Jordan to want to try and see if he could shock the guy anymore. He turned to Mac with a happy grin and said, "That's great honey! I don't know why you didn't tell me before! Now I can have my girlfriend move in with us and we can be a threesome!"

To be continued…


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Mac stood there in shock that this quiet dignified detective would come up with something this off the wall. She loved his sense of humor and he was cute too. It was too bad he was a married man. Taking his arm she said loudly, "Come on darling, it seems like we have a lot to talk about tonight."

The two of them had a good laugh over the incident once they got to the car. They were still giggling on and off as Woody pulled into the parking lot of the florist shop. Both sobered then at the serious nature of their visit.

Going in, they requested the unusual arrangement Petunia had wanted for her sister's grave. The girl behind the desk had to look up Clematis on the internet to see what they looked like. She knew that the shop didn't stock them, but wanted to see if they at least had something that looked like what the couple wanted.

One variety of the Clematis they had asked for looked a lot like a morning glory, so the clerk, after showing Mac and Woody a picture she had found asked if it would be okay to substitute one for the other. They looked at each other and nodded their agreement.

As they left the florist with the bouquet Woody said, "I need to stop by the precinct to drop off the carpet padding and to check on any messages I might have. After that I'll be free for the evening. Will you have dinner with Jordan and me? Surely it would be better than an evening alone in a hotel room."

"It wasn't the thought of 'better' Woody, I just didn't want to impose on the two of you."

"I can assure you that would not be the case, so won't you come?"

"Alright, yes!" she laughed at his persistence.

Meanwhile, Jordan had spent her day wondering what Woody and Mac had been up to. Mac was a very attractive woman and Jordan suddenly realized that she didn't really like the idea of her husband spending so much time with this other woman.

'Wait a minute!' she thought. 'That last thought sounded suspiciously like jealousy! How could she be jealous?! That emotion usually only cropped up if you loved someone, and she didn't love someone…did she?!' She remembered the kiss they shared and her odd feelings about that, and now this feeling that _seemed_ to be in the jealousy family of feelings. Could she be falling in love with her husband?! Woody was nice and kind and all, but he wasn't really her type. But look at the mess 'her type' of guy had gotten her into lately!

Used and forgotten by Harmon Rabb.

Used, manipulated, lied to, and left pregnant by Clark Palmer.

Her track record before these last two hadn't been all that great either.

So here she was, living with, married to, and about to have a child with, a sweet, kind, loving guy that was cute in his own way and what would be wrong with falling for this guy? Every mother dreamed her daughter would find a guy as good as Woody Hoyt! Even though her mother had died when she was very young, Jordon was sure she would have approved of Woody. So why was she fighting so hard not to have feelings for him?

Oh sure, she had gotten to the point where she liked him, since they had started living together. Before that she had always thought of him as annoying. Now though she was happy to see him at the end of the day and having him there for breakfast after they got up wasn't bad either. Where did that leave her?

Could these feelings she had for Woody be love? They weren't like what she had for the guy that she had thought was Harmon Rabb, but turned out to be Clark Palmer, and she had thought that was love. Maybe she needed to talk this over with someone! But her only female friend was Lily and Jordan was sure that no matter what the truth was, the rose colored glasses that Lily constantly wore, would insist that it was indeed love.

So she needed to find another woman to talk to. But who? The Marine from Virginia was in town, but Jordan didn't know her well enough to trust whatever advice she might give. The mere thought of going to see Clara Rose made her shudder. So who did that leave?

To be continued…


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Jordan sat at her desk trying to think of someone she could turn to, wishing she still had a mother in her life, and then it hit her! There was a woman who was a mother and she was about to marry Jordan's father in just a few weeks! Why not talk to LaVon?!

With that idea in her head, she left for home, planning to call her future step mother to see if she would have lunch with her on Saturday or Sunday.

She let herself into the apartment, ready for a quiet evening at home. Jordan knew Woody would be making dinner by now and as soon as they were done eating she wanted a long hot bath. But instead of the quiet she expected as she walked in, she heard a hearty female laugh followed quickly by a corresponding laugh from her husband. Clearly they had company for dinner that Woody had not told her about!

Putting her bag and keys on the table by the door she headed for the kitchen to see what was going on. She saw Woody and Mac standing shoulder to shoulder making dinner.

Woody looked up as she came into the room and smiled, "Hi Jordan. I hope you don't mind that I gave Mac your usual dinner making job, but she claimed that her cooking skills were about on par with yours, so she is making the salad. That gives you time for a hot bath if you like. You look really tired."

Jordan would normally have been pleased with his thoughtfulness, but not tonight when he had implied that she looked awful in front of Mac who was looking fresh and happy. "I'm fine!" she grumbled, and came further into the room. "What are we having?"

It was Mac that answered, "Chicken Enchiladas! They sound so good and Woody says they are easy so I am watching carefully so I can try them when I get home!" she reported eagerly.

"How was work today?" Woody asked.

"Fine," she answered shortly.

'Oh dear,' Woody thought, 'That was the second 'fine' since she had walked in. She was in a mood about something!' "Sorry I can't greet you properly," he told her, holding up goopy hands covered in tomato sauce.

"How did your day go?" Jordan asked in return. "Did you turn up anything new to like your two cases?"

"We talked to Petunia Orly, Maggie's sister, but even though she is a nice old lady, she didn't really have much to offer. She did ask a favor of Woody though," Mac volunteered as she shredded lettuce.

"What was that?" Jordan asked, looking at her husband.

"She wanted me to put flowers on Maggie's grave tomorrow. It would have been her birthday," Woody explained, and then added, "We also went to the apartment building where the cab driver dropped off our mystery Marine and found there was still a blood stain in the carpet padding."

"That's great!" Jordan exclaimed. "Why don't you give it to me and I can have Nigel analyze it in the morning?"

Woody slapped the heel of his hand to his forehead as he griped, "I should have thought of that! We probably would have gotten a faster answer that way too! I dropped it off at the precinct on the way home."

Shaking her head as Woody put the casserole dish in the oven, Jordan asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"The only thing left, is to set the table, but Mac or I can do that if you want to sit down and put your feet up for a while. Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes."

"I said I was fine! And I am perfectly capable of setting the table!" Jordan snapped as she took dishes from the cupboard, silverware from the drawer and left the kitchen with a huff.

"I get the feeling she is not too happy to have me here this evening Woody. I should probably go back to the hotel," Mac offered as she dried her hands on a towel and started to leave the kitchen.

"Jordan is always like this when she gets home from work these days. Her feet hurt and she is very tired, but she hates to admit it. As soon as she's had a chance to sit and rest, plus get some food into her, she will be fine. Please stay. I promise you it is alright," Woody pleaded.

"If you're sure?" Mac asked hesitatingly.

To be continued…


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"I am," he insisted and left the kitchen to go and talk to his wife.

"Jordan, what gives?" he asked when he got to the dining room.

"I don't know what you mean!" she snapped as she practically slammed the silverware down on the table.

"Are you upset that I invited Mac to dinner?"

"NO! Why would I be upset to come home and find my husband here alone with a beautiful woman, laughing and carrying on in the kitchen?!"

"Jordan, we were making dinner for the THREE of us! Not romping in the sheets! If I didn't know better I would almost think you were jealous. But since that's not possible, all I can figure is that this might be a…"

"If you dare to accuse me of hormonal things, I will do something drastic!" she claimed, gesturing a butter knife in his direction.

Instead of looking terrified or at the very least worried by her threat Woody had the gall to laugh! Normal Jordan would have seen red at that reaction, but because she was being hormonal, she started to cry instead.

Woody approached her without fear of the knife she still held in her hand, and wrapped her in his arms. "Jordan no matter how you feel about me, it is you that I love and that will never change. Mac is a friend and college nothing more. I know I should have called and told you about inviting her to dinner. I am sorry I didn't, and I promise it won't happen again. Okay?"

She gave a nod and hiccupped while saying, "Yes."

At that moment, Mac came out of the kitchen with the salad and placed it on the table. "Is there anything else I can do?" she asked.

Surprisingly it was Jordan that answered her, "There are several different bottles of dressing in the fridge. If you could get them while I finish setting the table…I would have been done by now, but Woody had to have his 'welcome home hug'.

Woody stood there slightly stunned at the blink of an eye change in Jordan's mood, but decided to go along with it rather than question it!

The three of them enjoyed their salad while waiting for the enchiladas to bake. By the time the oven buzzer went off they were more than ready for the wonderfully aromatic dish that Woody brought to the table. Mac commented on just how great they smelled. Jordan smiled and said, "Woody is a great cook if only I could control the amount of cheese he puts on things!"

"Oh!" Mac exclaimed, "Is that why he put less cheese on one end of the baking dish?!"

Jordan looked at the casserole dish in surprise and then up at Woody. He grinned sheepishly, "I guess you can teach a Wisconsin boy new ways."

"Isn't that supposed to be 'old dog, tricks'? Not 'Wisconsin boy, ways'?" Mac questioned.

"Yeah, but I don't feel old, so I thought I might get away with a word change."

"We'll forgive you, if you stop talking and dish up the food!" declared Jordan.

Woody gave a beleaguered sigh, "Never be slow to feed a pregnant woman!"

"Or a hungry Marine!" Mac added emphatically.

"I'm glad this recipe makes so many!" he stated as he filled the plates of the two hungry women in front of him.

The meal was delicious and a recipe that usually fed Woody and Jordan for two meals was polished off by the three of them that evening. There had been talk about the cases that had brought Mac to town and each of them had shared stories about their work as time had slid by. Before long Jordan couldn't stop her yawn and Mac apologized for staying too long. She asked for the number of a cab company and Woody said he would drive her back to her hotel. A good natured argument ensued with Jordan trying to end it by suggesting Mac use their guest room.

"Thank you Jordan, but I don't have anything with me," Mac said.

"You can borrow something of mine, if you like and we even have a couple of new toothbrush in the guest bath," Jordan offered.

"I appreciate it, but I really don't want to inconvenience you. Please let me thank you both for a pleasant evening and just let me call a cab."

Woody was about to protest again when Jordan put her hand on his arm and recommended a cab company to Mac. While she was making her call Woody questioned his wife about her actions.

To be continued…


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

"After the way I acted when I got home, I bet she didn't want to chance a repeat of it by staying, or having you take her home. She's a big girl, not to mention a Marine, let her make her own choice."

He conceded Jordan's point and they talked about the plan for the next day while waiting for the cab to arrive.

As soon as Mac was out the door, Jordan said she was going to take a long hot bath. Woody encouraged her to do so, saying he would do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. Since that was something Jordan rarely offered to help with he was not surprised when she just nodded and headed to the bathroom.

When the kitchen was at last put to rights, Woody sat down with the evening paper. He always read the news first, sports second, and his guilty pleasure, the comics he saved for last. Woody was very surprised that Jordan was still not out of her bath when he finished. He had expected her about halfway through the sports section. They usually watched some TV together before bed.

Concerned he got to his feet and went to knock on the bathroom door. At first there was no response, until he called out her name, which was when he got a groggy, 'what?'

"Did you fall asleep in there?" he asked needlessly, since it was clear she had.

"So?" was her grumpy answer.

"I was just concerned. Do you need any help?" he wanted to know.

"I just fell asleep, and I have been drying myself off for years, even though there is a lot more of me these days, I think I can manage!"

"Alright Jordan," he said, backing away from the door sadly. He really thought they had been making progress lately and tonight she had even sounded jealous when she came home. But now she sounded angry at him for just offering to help.

Jordan had no idea she had upset Woody. All she knew was she was tired and achy all the time these days and when Woody had woke her the first thing she saw was her huge belly covered with stretch marks. Here she was having a baby that wasn't even her husband's. She was also sure she didn't have any clue how to take care of it. To top that off, the pregnancy was doing things to her body that she didn't appreciate. Especially at a time when she suddenly wanted the man she married to find her attractive!

Wow, thoughts like those kept cropping up. She had no idea what was going on in her life! A year ago she had been a focused career woman in search of the perfect pair of jeans and a man she could imagine spending her life with without wanting to kill him.

Now here she was in a mess it would take a physiatrist a decade or more to straighten out. What was she thinking?! Having the child of an assassin for hire, and yet married to a man that loved her, and she couldn't figure out her own feelings.

How could she test out the odd feelings she'd been having? It wouldn't be fair to Woody to try kissing or even sleeping with him only to find that her feelings weren't love at all. Then it hit her. A year ago, it wouldn't have bothered her at all to test out how she felt on a guy and dump him when she was done. So she must have some feelings for Woody or she wouldn't' be worried about how he would react to her actions.

There might have been more thoughts along those lines if she hadn't had a full day at work, followed by an evening of entertaining company. But those things had taken their toll on a body already tired from an advanced stage of pregnancy. So, before Jordan could come to any conclusions about her feelings, or any that she was willing to admit to at this stage, she put her robe on over her still wet body, crossed the short distance to her room without even throwing Woody a glance and was asleep almost before she crawled into bed.

To be continued…


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Woody, on the other hand, did something he had never before done in his life. He poured himself a drink to help dull the pain he was feeling and then another when the first didn't do it's work.

The hangover he was suffering the next morning reminded him never again to laugh at what he had always thought of as an over exaggeration in the movies. His hair did hurt! The only thing he was truly glad about was that Jordan was in a very un-communicable mood that morning. They barely said two words to each other before both going their separate ways to work.

Jordan had a slow boring day at work which gave her all too much time to think. The fact that everyone else at the office seemed to be in happy moods only made it worse. She tried to avoid them as much as possible, but the only place to do that, was her office where she was faced with the pile of paperwork on her desk. That only served to make her mood worse than it was.

On the other hand, Woody's day was busier that he wanted, with the hangover nagging him. Mac was aware there was something wrong as soon as she saw him and it didn't take long at all to figure out what it was when he clutched his head as someone dragged a chair across the floor close to him.

She could remember having many mornings like that back in her drinking days. As they got down to business, she could only hope that this was a rare occasion for the Detective, not an on going problem.

They had just discovered the cab driver they wanted to talk to, had retired to a small suburb just north of town when Woody was called out to a new homicide. Mac was about to say she would go with him so they could head north as soon as he was done, when Woody handed her his car keys and said, "I can get a ride out to the scene. Take my car and go talk to Mr. Rollins. There are maps in the glove compartment if you need them. We can meet at Max's for lunch, I'm sure he would love an update on what we have so far."

Mac nodded her agreement and they went their separate ways. She saw the flowers for Maggie's grave on the passenger seat of Woody's car and wondered if she should take them to the cemetery when she was done or wait for Woody to be with her for that. Pulling up in front of Rollins' house she saw a man kneeling at a flower bed in the front yard.

"Mr. Rollins, I am Colonel Sarah Mackenzie and I am looking into the murder of Marine Captain Kellson Manors. I was wondering if you could spare a few minutes to talk to me?"

"I never mind talking to a pretty lady as long as my wife doesn't find out about it, but I don't know anything about a murdered Marine."

"I guess I should have been a bit more clear," Mac said with a smile. "The murder happened thirty six years ago. There was a shooting and kidnapping outside the airport and you reported that a Marine got into your cab asking you to follow the car the kidnapped child was in. The next day there was a body found in an alley that we managed to identify as Captain Kellson Manors. We believe that he may have been the Marine you had in your cab the day before. Do you think you could identify him from a picture?"

Slowly rising to his feet from his kneeling position, Rollins wiped his dirty hands on the back of his pants. "You don't forget something like that, young lady. Cab driving can be interesting at times, but I doubt if one in a thousand drivers ever get asked to follow a killer. Your Captain was just under six feet tall, with sandy brown hair, in the proper military cut of course. Wasn't really close enough to see eye color, but he had a small curved scar over his right eye and he was in uniform."

"Well this picture I have doesn't show a scar, but he could have gotten that in Viet Nam," Mac said as she handed the service picture to Rollins.

He took one look at it and started nodding, "That's him. Your Marine is the one that got into my cab that day. So he was killed then?"

To be continued…


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

"Yes. It seems he went up to the apartment when the kidnapper was and got shot. We found blood in the apartment and his body was discovered with a bullet through his heart. With your ID of his picture we can finally let his wife know what happened to him all those years ago, and that he died a hero! Thank you, Mr. Rollins."

"I'm glad I could help, little lady. You tell his wife for me that I am sorry I never knew his name or she would have known about him sooner."

"I will tell her, and thank you again, Mr. Rollins," Mac took her leave of the elderly man and got back into Woody's car.

Seeing the flowers again she decided to give him a call and find out if he wanted her to deliver them or wait for him. He told her to go ahead and take them since he would easily be tied up until lunch time. Mac said she would be glad to and asked if there was anything else she could do. Woody told her 'no' and they hung up.

It took a bit of searching to find Magnolia's grave even with the directions her sister had given them, and when Mac walked around to the front of the headstone, she was very surprised. There was already a large bouquet of fresh flowers on the grave. She recognized them as one of the more beautiful varieties of clematis' that she had seen when the florist had done the internet search.

The flowers had clearly been placed there that morning, but Petunia had said they had no other family. Mac could only think of one other person that could have a reason to put that kind of flowers on this grave. Her son! If he was still alive and remembered his mother's birthday, he could have done this. If Mac was right, that also meant she had only missed meeting up with him by a very short time! Maybe if she had stopped here before going to see Rollins!

When she and Woody were together again she would have him do a search in Boston for Clematis Orly. It would be amazing if they could tie up another loose end of their cases!

Woody was late to lunch at the bar, but that gave Mac a chance to chat with Max for a bit, as well as meet his fiancée who had dropped by for lunch with him.

They had just left her table when Woody came dragging in. Mac quietly asked him how he was doing and got a low groan in response. Mac called the waiter over and ordered a glass of tomato juice with two raw eggs, a healthy shot of Tabasco sauce and some black pepper in it. When it arrived she pushed it towards Woody and told him to drink up!

After the first swallow he was ready to quit, but Mac insisted that he needed to finish it if he wanted to feel better. Disgusted he did as he was told and by the time the food they ordered arrived, he admitted that he did feel better. He also added that he would never again drink that much in one night.

Mac was secretly glad to hear that and then changed the subject to the news about what she had found at the cemetery.

Woody was intrigued with the thought that their young kidnap victim might still be alive and putting flowers on his mother's grave. He came up with the same thought that Mac had about looking for Clematis Orly in Boston. They finished lunch quickly and headed back to the precinct.

On his desk was the results of the blood test they'd had done on the carpet padding the day before. The blood types matched. It wasn't conclusive proof like a DNA match would be, but it was the best they could do with evidence that old. Even before they had the report however Woody and Mac had been convinced that they pieced the clues together.

To be continued…


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

The only thing they didn't have was the story of what had gone on in that apartment. Mac asked Woody for the autopsy report on Captain Manors. She opened it, and read out loud, "There were ligature marks on his wrists as if he had been tied up. Maybe to a chair?" She looked at Woody as she made her guess and then went back to reading, "He had bruises all over his face and torso. There was a deep cut above his left eye as if he'd been hit by a hand with a ring on it." Mac closed the report and said, "It sounds very much like he was beaten for information before he was fatally shot."

"They could have wanted to know how much Manors knew," Woody suggested.

"Now you are saying 'they' too," Mac commented.

"Well there had to have been two of them. When Maggie was shot and her son grabbed, they got into the car on the passenger side and sped off. That means there had to have been a second person behind the wheel doing the driving."

"That's true!" Mac exclaimed. "I wonder who this Ellery would have trusted enough to involve in murder and kidnapping?"

"A relative?" Woody guessed, "Or maybe an underling of some sort if they worked together."

"I doubt we will ever know," sighed Mac.

"That could very well be," Woody replied as he continued to search on the computer for Clematis Orly. "I have run DMV, property, and utility bills, but there is no record of him here in Boston or in surrounding areas. But there was something that has been floating around in my head Mac. If it was her son that put the flowers on her grave for her birthday, might he also do the same to remember the day she was killed?"

"What do you mean?"

"If he puts flowers on her grave for the day that she died too, then if we shake out Magnolia's grave we could find him. We might be able to get information from him about the murder too!" Woody sounded excited.

"She was killed on July 15th right?" Mac questioned. At Woody's nod, she shook her head sadly. "Admiral Chegwidden would never let me stay here until then."

"Well since we know the date, you could try and get him to let you return then, or if not, I can certainly let you know what I find out."

Nodding, Mac said, "That would work, I guess. It was good working with you Woody. I hope I can return in July so we can do it again, and possibly meet up with Clematis Orly." An odd look came over her face and she added, "You know, I have to agree with Petunia, what an awful name for a child, Clematis! That is why Admiral Chegwidden goes by his initials. His name is Albert Jethro, so he goes by AJ. I wonder if maybe Clematis does the same thing?"

"I don't have any record of a middle name or even an initial for him. However, I should call on Petunia and tell her we delivered the flowers and found the other flowers there on the grave. I could find out if she knows Clematis' middle name then. I do hope that we get to work together again as well. Since we finished all you came to find out, I guess that means you'll have return to Virginia soon?"

"Yes, I'll have to see if I can book a ticket for tomorrow. The Admiral was good enough to let me come and if I want to get back in July, I'd better head back as soon as possible."

"Would you like me to drive you to the airport tomorrow?"

"Thank you, but no. I can manage and as a Marine I learned to travel light."

Mac made her call to the airline and found she could catch a Redeye flight that night for a discount and she slept so little anyway, she decided to take it. She told Woody and said she would head back to the hotel to pack and possibly grab a nap. They parted with a handshake and renewed hopes to see each other again in July. Mac even teased that he would be a father by then! Woody smiled and agreed. He was looking forward to the baby's arrival.

To be continued…


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Once back in Virginia, Mac paid a visit to Mrs. Iola Manors. She wanted to tell her all that she had found out about her husband.

Mrs. Manors was so very grateful and happy to finally know what had kept her beloved Kelly from returning to her. "When it first happened, my father would always wonder out loud if he had found some other woman and ran off with her."

"That's awful!" Mac exclaimed.

"I know, I was hurting so badly, and to have my own father speculating about things like that! We didn't speak for years after that!" Iola told Mac.

"I don't blame you," Mac assured her. "What got you talking again?"

"My mother called when he had a heart attack and told me how much he wanted to see me. I went to the hospital and he told me that he regretted what he had said all those years ago. We talked for several hours, catching up on all that we had missed. Then I went home for the night and he had a second fatal heart attack in the middle of the night. At least we had a chance to make things right before he was gone."

Mac expressed her agreement, and told Iola how she hadn't had that chance with her own father. The two of them sat there for a while in silence, contemplating the workings of the world before Mac told her she had to go.

Things went along just fine for the next two weeks until on the Friday before Jordan's due date. She once again got the feeling that she was being watched. That eerie tingling feeling crawling down the back of her neck had returned. This time she refused to search franticly for the source. If it was Clark Palmer and he was watching her, she didn't want to give him that satisfaction. So instead she kept her head down and walked from her car into work just like any other day.

When she got into the building she wondered if she should tell the security guard who looked up at her and smiled when she came in. But Jordan thought better of it knowing it wouldn't do any good anyway. She rode up in the elevator and remembered her promise to Woody. But again, what could he do? Palmer was way too tricky and clever to get caught just watching her.

If he had some nefarious plan cooked up she was sure it was more than just to give her the heebie jeebies. Good Lord! Her thoughts were beginning to sound like they were coming from Woody's mouth! This was what happened when you lived with someone! Pretty soon she would begin to spout Woody-isms!

What she needed was to spend an evening in her father's bar. Even if he wouldn't even let her have a beer these days at least she would be around people with good solid Boston accents and speech patterns! By the time all that had run through her mind she was in the break room pouring a cup of coffee and listening to Lily's unending chatter about the coming baby. She let herself forget about the parking lot and about calling Woody to tell him about it.

The morgue was closed on the fourth, even though Garret had spent most of the day before complaining about all the work there was to do and how taking a day off would put them even more behind. The staff pointed out that they were already working on a Saturday so that wouldn't happen, but Garret ignored them.

They had all given Jordan a lot of hassle about taking the week before she was due off of work as part of her maternity leave, but Jordan told them she wanted to work up until the last minute so she could have as much time after the baby arrived as possible. So her leave wasn't scheduled to start until Monday the twelfth. Her due date was the Friday before.

Woody had planned a very Wisconsin holiday for them even though he had lived in Boston for four years now. A picnic in the park in the afternoon then a long walk if Jordan was up to it so close to her due date. Then they would have a late dinner out and go to watch the fireworks. It would be a very pleasant and relaxing day for the two of them.

That wasn't how it turned out however.

The creepy watched feeling she'd gotten before was back again, but this time it occurred before she even got out of bed! This led her to wonder if she had just been having some kind of weird hormonal happenstance the times it had happened before.

To be continued…


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Jordan had read enough books on pregnancy after Woody and Lily had convinced her to keep the baby to know that some very odd things could occur when a woman was pregnant. After the trauma that Palmer had put her through, plus the fact that he hadn't been killed in the airline crash like they all believed, lent itself to some pretty heavy baggage to be carrying around. Not to mention the warning from Clara Rose! Jordan knew everyone thought the woman was phonier than a $3 dollar bill, but anything she had ever told Jordan had come true and she had been a lot of help on that murder case.

Not wanting to spoil the day Woody had planned for them, Jordan decided not to mention the feeling she was having that something just wasn't right.

They had a pleasant breakfast with the minor exception of the amount of cheese that Woody had put on her omelet. She had apologetically scraped half of it off, but smiled as she accepted another slice of toast.

When they walked out the front door of their apartment building Jordan felt like her hair was all standing on end, as if she was touching one of those electronic lightening machines! Her alert meter felt like it was in hyper drive.

Woody walked along side her to the car carrying the picnic basket and blanket totally unaware that something was out of the ordinary. He loaded the things into the trunk of the car and turned to her with a happy grin. "Are you ready to get going?"

Nodding distractedly as she tried to casually look around, Jordan wondered if she really was going crazy? Why would Palmer be watching her?! What could he want?! He had already messed with her life, but that was some plot to mess with Harmon Rabb's life. She was just a pawn. He couldn't want the child, could he?! Her hand went to protectively rest on her tummy and then just as quickly she removed it. If Palmer was watching she didn't want to give him any reason to think she cared about the baby.

As those thoughts raced through her mind, Woody had closed the trunk and came over to open her door for her. "Letting me be a gentleman today?" he teased. Usually, she opened her own door and got in before he could be his chivalrous self.

Trying to shake off the 'watched' feeling she answered, "I thought I would give you a break today since you've done all that for us. Woody do you really think that your mother will be coming to Boston?"

"I don't think anything could keep her away! Not only does she have a daughter-in-law she has never met here, but as far as she knows, you are about to give birth to her first grand child."

"If you want to tell her the truth about that I would understand," Jordan offered.

Closing her door and going around to get in the driver's side before he answered, he turned to loot at her and said, "Jordan, as far as I am concerned, with my family or anyone else that doesn't already know, this is our child! You know we do have to come to some decision about a name! You're due in less than a week!"

"I know!" she sighed, as they pulled out onto the street, "The problem is nothing seems just right! After all we have been through I want to get this part right. A name is something you have to live with all of your life."

"Yeah," he agreed, "And if you get one you don't like you have to find some kind of nickname you can live with."

"Well we have it narrowed down to Logan, Nathan, and Reilly. We could always narrow it down to just the two of them and use them as first and middle," Jordan suggested.

"But I still like the idea of using your name since we have ruled out any other family names. So there isn't any confusion we could use Jordan as his middle name and one of the other three as his first."

With a sigh she grumbled, "We could always just go eenie, meanie, miney, mo!"

Woody laughed and said that if they couldn't reach a decision by the end of the day, they would do just that, but if they did, he would be sure and tell their son that was how his mother wanted to name him!

To be continued…


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

With a glare at Woody, Jordan said, "He'll probably have enough reasons to hate me by the time he is old enough to understand that how his name was decided on will be the least important on the list."

"Why do you think he is going to hate you?!" Woody asked in shock.

"Because I know I am going to be a lousy mother, and all kids hate their parents at some time in their lives."

Woody looked thoughtful, "I never hated mine," he offered.

"Of course not! You were probably the perfect son with the perfect parents! I am the hopeless one here!"

"Jordan that's ridiculous! I certainly wasn't the perfect son! You can ask my mother while she is here, but in all honesty she will probably tell you all my exploits before you could even ask. As for you being hopeless that simply isn't true! I see how much you care even if you don't want anyone to know that you wouldn't read all those baby and parenting books if you didn't want to do the best job you can do for him. You also need to remember that we are in this together. Okay?"

"I guess so," she said begrudgingly.

"Good!" he told her with smile. "Now can we enjoy our day? It will probably be out last free one before Logan is born."

"You decided on Logan?" she asked.

"No, I just thought I would give all the names we have a try to see which one sounds best."

"That's a great idea! What will your mother say if Nathan doesn't look like you?"

"Well we both have dark hair and so did Palmer, so it's very likely that Riley will too. Most babies are born with blues eyes and they change later. But I'm not too worried. I am sure that my mother will be able to assign every feature to some relative. We have a large family."

"What if she starts talking about us having more after this one? What should we say?"

"I will just tell her that we are going to wait and see if you kill this one off before we even think about having more," he teased.

"Good idea!" she said earnestly.

A short time later they arrived at the park where Woody wanted to have their picnic lunch. They unpacked the car, found a place both of them liked and Woody spread out the blanket.

As they unpacked the food, Jordan told him, "I am so glad your mother taught you how to cook, otherwise we would live on take-out or starve!"

He was still laughing over that when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up again. How could Palmer have known they were coming to this park?! Unless he had followed them! But then why hadn't she felt like this when they were in the car?! Unless vibes like this didn't work in cars!

'Oh good heavens!' she thought. 'Do you hear yourself?! You are beginning to sound as whacky as Clara Rose! Or as whacky as you used to think Woody was when you first met him. Speaking of Woody, you should tell him what is going on!'

'No! I'm not going to do that! Oh great! Now you are arguing with yourself! And being stupid too! Because you know you should tell him!'

With a moan, Jordan put her head in her hands, this got Woody's attention right away. "Jordan, are you alright?! Is something wrong?!" he questioned, putting down the container of potato salad and moving across the blanket towards her.

"I'm fine," she grumbled. "Just wishing we had picked somewhere closer to the bathrooms." She started to struggle back to her feet. Even though Jordan was normally a slim and fit woman with less than a week to her due date, she felt totally unwieldy. Before she could even get to her knees, Woody had jumped to his feet, which she shouldn't have felt resentful for, but she did. He reached out to gently help her stand, and with a muttered 'thank you' she headed to the bathroom.

What she didn't see on her walk to the public restroom was that Woody quickly repacked the picnic basket and picked up the blanket. By the time she came out, he was setting things out again, this time only about twenty steps from the bathroom. Jordan's eyes sparkled with unshed tears at the kindness of the man she was married to! He really was a great guy.

To be continued…


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Jordan had been so focused on what Woody had done for her that she had forgotten for a short time the creepy feeling she'd had earlier. But, as she sat down and began to fill her plate with food, it was back again in full force.

She tried to concentrate on the great food Woody had made for the day, but the chill running down her back and she could feel that it was even upsetting the baby. He was rolling and kicking like crazy. It was time to tell Woody now, when the fear was even flowing through her to the baby, she knew it was time. "Woody, I don't want you to over react to this, but I have the feeling we are being watched again."

Woody went still with the chicken leg he had been about to take a bite out of paused halfway to his mouth. Very quietly he asked, "Can you tell what direction this feeling is coming from?"

"I don't know. I really hadn't tried to focus it like that."

"Can you try?" he asked. "Is it worse when you are looking over my shoulder? Or maybe it is coming from behind you?"

She sat there for a moment focusing on something she didn't even want to think about let alone concentrate on, but Woody was right, there would be a lot less area to search if she could figure out where the feeling was coming from. The problem was that in the past her feelings had always led her astray and now here Woody was asking her to leave something this important to an area of her life that had always been a failure.

Jordan was about to shake her head 'no' and tell him that she couldn't tell anything when all of a sudden the creepy feeling actually shifted! It seemed to move from behind her to her left side! Eagerly, she opened her eyes and told Woody that.

He allowed his gaze to move slowly around the park as if he were merely taking in the view. Deliberately starting in the opposite direction she had said, in the hopes of not alerting Palmer if that was who it was, that they were on to him.

By the time his eyes got to the side of the park Jordan had indicated, she was about ready to scream. She wanted to run over there and find the creep that was doing this to her and strangle the life out of him. Although right now she could no more run than she could fit into her pre-pregnancy jeans! All she could manage these days was a medium speed waddle!

Woody's eyes returned to look at her, "I don't see anything right off, Jordie, but I'm sure he would either have a disguise on or be in good cover. I am going to pretend to go to the bathroom and try to get a better look. I want you to stay here! Do you understand?!"

Reluctantly, she nodded and as he got up to go she quietly told him, "Woody, please be careful."

He looked at her in surprise for a moment and then said, "I will."

By the time he got as far as the bathrooms Jordan's feeling of being watched lifted. From one moment to the next it had been there and gone, just that fast. With a frustrated sigh because she knew that meant Palmer had once again slipped away, she pulled out her cell phone and called Woody.

Looking at who the caller was, he answered the phone with a question, "Has he moved?"

"Yes," she replied with another sigh. "He's gone. As you walked by the restrooms I got the sense that he was gone. He must have realized that you were looking for him, or all this could just be a pregnancy induced mind game, but in any case I'm sorry that I have ruined our day with this nonsense."

"I'm coming back," he told her and hung up. When he reached the blanket he sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "I don't think that this is in your mind Jordan. Palmer has caused enough havoc in our lives that I believe you have a sense of when he is near now. I'm glad that you are letting me know as soon as you become aware of his presence."

To be continued…


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

As Woody said that, Jordan of course immediately felt guilty for all the times recently she hadn't told him. But Woody was still speaking, "We will catch him Jordan. I swear that to you! He will face charges for what he has done to you as well as for escaping prison."

"I hope so," she stated. "I just wonder what we will end up telling the baby about him."

"That's something we won't have to worry about for quite some time because if we tell him at all it will have to wait until he's old enough to understand it all."

"When you say 'if', do you mean that we might not tell him at all?"

"I don't know. I guess it might all depend on what ends up happening to Palmer. But if we choose to raise him as if I were his father, we could avoid the whole mess."

"I don't have a problem at all with him thinking of you as his father and believe me I would much rather never have to ever tell him about the awful man who did father him! But Woody, I can tell you from very personal experience, the truth always ends up coming out at some point, usually when it hurts the most. If we choose, and control how he is told, it would hurt a lot less than him finding out on his own someday. Every TV show out there has had that episode where the kid needs a transfusion or transplant and the truth comes out then in an already highly emotional situation!"

"Yes, but in the shows it's not only the child that finds out then, but the guy who thought he was the biological father. I know that truth going in, so we already have fifty percent of that problem dealt with," he replied.

"True," she agreed. "But I still think we should tell him at some point, okay?"

"Okay, as long as we do it together and we make sure he is old enough to understand. Now how about if we pick out a name for him?"

They bickered back and forth for a while as they continued to munch on the food Woody had made. After much fuss and bother they decided on Riley for the first name. But Jordan was leaning towards Nathan for his middle name, while Woody kept saying it should be Jordan. They talked about flipping a coin to choose, but instead decided to ask family and friends to vote and go with the majority.

Later that evening as they sat and watched the fireworks only one of them was enjoying the show. Jordan, who rarely let anything phase her, jumped as if a gun were going off every time one of the reports of the fire works went off.

It took a few of these reactions for Woody to notice, but when he did, he slid over next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. He didn't say a word, but the comfort he offered was just what she needed. Leaning into him she put her head on his shoulder and was able to watch the rest of the show with appreciation rather than apprehension.

The next couple of days Jordan was clearly in the 'nesting' phase of her pregnancy. She was cleaning the apartment from top to bottom. Nothing it seemed would miss her attention. Woody tried not to laugh when he saw her standing next to the living room lamps dusting the light bulbs!

Jordan glared at him when he couldn't hold back a chuckle and said, "I want everything to look nice when your mother gets here!"

He tried to redeem himself by reminding her, "The reason she is coming is to help out so you don't have to do everything. I don't think she expects you to work yourself to exhaustion getting ready for her visit."

"Oh sure! Then she gets here and thinks that you've married a slob! I already have four strikes against me for being pregnant when we got married, for getting you to marry me without your family here, for not having our wedding in a church, and for keeping all of that from her for all this time!"

To be continued…


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

"That is a lot of strikes," Woody confirmed with a nod. "But don't you think some if not most of that blame is mine? After all she is my mother and I could have told her all of this sooner than I did."

"She will find a way to blame it all on me, Woody! Mother-in-laws are famous for hating the women that marry their precious little boys!"

"Jordan, I am very sure any of that will fade in the face of her first grandchild. She will be so overcome with love and devotion for him that everything else will be fine."

"Then god help me if she ever finds out the baby isn't yours!" she cried, flopping down on the couch and burying her head in her hands.

He sat down next to her on the couch and puller her into his arms. "Jordan, she will never hear it from me. As far as I am concerned this is our baby, okay?!"

Looking up at him with tears on her cheeks she gave one last hiccupping sob and nodded. "I think I'll go to bed now if you could get one thing done for me?"

"Sure! What do you need Jordie?"

"I know how you feel about me getting up on chairs right now, so could you dust the top of the refrigerator for me? It was the only thing I didn't get done in the kitchen."

Rolling his eyes he agreed to do it as he took the dust rag from her hand. He was surprised when she kissed his cheek before thanking him and leaving the room.

The morning of the ninth Woody had taken off of work to go to the airport and pick up his mother. As he was leaving the house he tried once again to persuade Jordan to go with him. She was dressed and ready to go to work. "I am sure Garret wouldn't mind if you took a couple of hours off so you could come with me!"

"I'll meet her tonight after she's had a chance to settle in and get caught up with you," she assured him.

"Jordan there isn't anything to fear! You've talked to her on the phone!"

"I know, but she might be totally different in real life!" she protested.

Woody sighed, they'd had several versions of this conversation over the last few days and he guessed it was time to give up. "Okay then, we will see you tonight when you get home from work."

"Okay!" Jordan eagerly agreed and headed out the door.

Evelyn Hoyt's eyes were like saucers as she took in the size of the Logan International Airport. She barely kept up with her son as she trailed along behind him to the baggage claim area. Her head was turning from one side to the other as if she were at a tennis match, trying to take in everything. It wasn't until they had stopped at the carousels where the luggage would appear that she actually spoke other than a 'hello' and to ask, "Where is your dear Jordan?"

Woody had started to explain that she had gone in to work when he realized that he had lost her attention to the wonders of the large airport.

Now, however, they were finally standing still and even though her eyes were still not on him, but rather on all of the people from weird to sublime in the crowd, it seemed she was finally ready to focus to some degree on conversation with her son, "So you are allowing your wife to work this late in her pregnancy Woodrow? If you two need money that badly, why didn't you let me know?! I have the life insurance money of your father's saved away just in case you children were ever to need it!"

"Mom!" he protested, "We don't need the money! That is not why Jordan is working!" Woody didn't of course, want to tell his mother that in part the reason Jordan was at work today was that she was afraid of meeting her mother-in-law. "She only gets six weeks of maternity leave and she wants to take it all after the baby is born. And before you start fussing that she's doing too much this late in her pregnancy, I want you to know that the people she works with care about her a great deal. They are making sure that her work load is light and that she isn't overdoing it. Her biggest complaint lately has been about all the paperwork her boss has been giving her to do. He has been keeping her off her feet as much as possible."

To be continued…


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

"Well, okay. I guess that is alright then, but I was so looking forward to seeing her," Evelyn sighed.

As the bags started to appear, Woody asked his mother what her suitcase looked like. He could never remember his parents ever taking a trip so didn't know that she'd ever owned a suitcase. What he didn't know was that simple question would get his mother going again. She informed him that she had three suitcases, all borrowed from his varying sisters.

"Three!?" Woody exclaimed.

"Yes," she answered and went on to tell him how very upset she had been that the airlines had made her pay extra for the third bag!

"But why three mother?! How long are you planning on staying?!"

She harrumphed at him and replied, "I am only here to help out Woody! I will only stay as long as I am needed and as for the three bags…of course they are not all my things! One is mine, the second is some of your baby things that I had saved and new things I have made for your baby…"

"And the third?" he asked when she paused for breath.

"It is filled with gifts from your sisters, of course!" she informed him as if the answer should have been obvious.

"Oh of course," he sighed, with his family, he should have known better.

But his mother hadn't heard his comment because she had started off on another topic, "You would not believe how I was treated at the airport, Woodrow! And in Wisconsin no less! You might treat people that way here in the big city, but they acted like they didn't trust me! They put my hand bag and carry on through an X-ray machine! I never heard of one of those outside of a hospital! Then they went through my carry on bag because they saw something pointy! Well I told them that of course knitting needles had to be pointy to work right! You would have thought I was going to stab someone with them! I tried to explain that I was knitting for my first grandbaby, but they didn't care one lick! They told me that I could only keep them because they weren't metal! I guess I am glad your sister bought me a whole new fangled set of wooden ones last year for Christmas!"

"Well I'm glad that you made it onto the plane, mom, but you do know that you don't have to do all of this for the baby. We can afford to buy whatever we need."

"Woodrow Hoyt! I will not have my first grandchild come into this world without homemade gifts from his Grammy!"

"Yes, mom," was all he could say. Finally all three of her bags arrived and they were on their way out of the airport to the car.

They dodged people left and right as they walked out and Evelyn once again had something to say, "Is every person in town here today? How can the city function if no one is at work?!"

"Mom, Boston had 560,000 people! There is no way even the smallest percentage of them is here today."

"Well good heavens! How in the world can that many live in one place together?!"

"We manage mom," he told her as he put the bags into his car.

When they left the airport parking lot and Woody got up to speed with the rest of the traffic Evelyn gasped and exclaimed, "Woody slow down! This isn't' a race track!" Then as several cars zoomed by them she complained, "People here drive like maniacs!"

"It took some getting used to for me too, mom, but after a while you just do."

"Well I don't think I will be here that long," she said with a sigh.

Finally they arrived at Woody and Jordan's apartment. He took her bags in and showed her to their guest room. "Mom, are you going to be okay if I go into the precinct for a couple of hours this afternoon?" he asked, as he pulled out the sandwiches and ice tea he had made them for lunch.

"Of course I will Woodrow! I have been taking care of myself for many years now. I'll just spend the time cleaning up a little so Jordan won't have to when she gets home."

As Woody mentally rolled his eyes and vowed that he would not tell Jordan that his mother went on to say, "Woody, there isn't enough cheese on this sandwich. Don't you know how important dairy is in your diet? Jordan will certainly need more than this when she is nursing!"

To be continued…


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

"Yes, Mom," Woody said quietly as he got up to get them both more cheese. He had to wonder how Jordan would react when she already thought that he used too much cheese!

Woody made sure that he was home before Jordan got there so he would be able to introduce them rather than have them meet on their own. The minute he walked through the door he registered that his mother had dinner cooking, right before she came out of the kitchen wearing an apron that he recognized as hers from home. Before he could say a word she accosted him with questions, "Woody, why is there no picture albums of your wedding? I have been through this entire apartment looking for one and can't find a single one. I also don't see any photos of your life together! I have been here all afternoon and wouldn't know my own daughter-in-law if she walked in that door!"

Trying to hold back a chuckle, he said with the straightest face that he could, "Well, mom, you could guess that she is probably the only nine month pregnant woman with a key to the door."

"Don't be smart with me Woodrow Aloysius Hoyt!" she instructed.

"No ma'am!"

"So where are all the pictures that make a place a home?"

"We don't have any mom. As you pointed out, we were only married at a Justice of the Peace and to be honest, Jordan doesn't really like having her picture taken at any time, but now she thinks she is fat and ugly, so it's even worse."

"Nonsense!" Evelyn declared. "There is nothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman! She is in the flower of life! You should tell her that Woodrow!"

"I do mom! But that doesn't mean that she is going to believe me!" he protested.

"Are you in the habit of lying to your wife?!" she demanded.

"No mom! I never lie to Jordan. I love her!"

"Well that's good! Now it's probably too late to do this now with the baby due any day, but when the three of you come to Wisconsin to visit, we should arrange for a proper church wedding. That way all of your sisters can be there and Reverend Clary, who married your father and I, and christened every one of the five of you, can marry you and Jordan, plus christen your son at the same time! Have the two of you settled on a name yet? The last time we spoke you hadn't."

"We have decided on a name, mom. He is going to be Riley Jordan. But I don't know if Jordan wants to be married in a church and we haven't even talked about christening Riley."

"Woodrow Aloysius Hoyt! How can you do this to yourself and your family?! Not be married in a church!? Well I have never heard of such a thing! And to not have that dear sweet baby christened…" Neither of them had heard the door open, nor were they aware that Jordan was now home and hearing what Evelyn had to say. "Every child of God needs to be christened! It is bad enough that you got that girl pregnant before you married her! I was sure that your father and I had raised you better than that!"

It was at that point that Jordan closed the door, loud enough that they would be sure to hear it. The change in Mrs. Hoyt was like night and day. She swung around to look at Jordan and walked towards her with a smile and open arms. "Oh my dear! You must be Jordan, and just look at how beautiful you are, blossoming with my first grandchild."

Evelyn enfolded a startled Jordan in a tight hug. Jordan had not been expecting this kind of reaction to her after hearing what Mrs. Hoyt had been saying to Woody. She had been about to wade into the one-sided battle that had been going on in defense of her husband, but then Evelyn's tune had completely changed when she'd seen her. Jordan was understandable confused.

Woody walked over to the two women and said, "Well I was going to introduce the two of you, but it seems mom has beaten me to the punch."

To be continued…


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

"Yes she did," Jordan agreed reluctantly, returning the hug her mother-in-law had her in and then stepped back to add, "I thank you for the compliment, Mrs. Hoyt, but I can assure you I feel far from beautiful now…more like a beached whale."

"Now, now, that isn't true at all! And I want you to call me Mother, or Mom like Woody does, or even Evelyn until you know me better. None of this Mrs. Hoyt nonsense since we could both answer to that!"

"Ummm, thank you Evelyn," she said and then turning to Woody she added, "Could we go ahead and eat now? I'm starving and whatever you're making for dinner smells wonderful!"

"I agree that it smells great, but I have no idea what it is," Woody told her cheerfully.

"Oh it's nothing all that special. Just a pot roast with the usual trimmings and a cherry cobbler for desert," Evelyn stated as both the younger people turned to her.

"I'll set the table," Jordan volunteered.

But Woody stepped in front of her. "Why don't you let me do that and you can have a few minutes to put your feet up," he suggested tenderly, seeing the look of weariness around her eyes.

With a sigh and nod she said, "That sounds like a good idea, if you're sure you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind! Go in the living room and put your feet up. I'll call you when dinner is on the table."

"Okay, but as nice as your mom is being right now, I did hear the things she was saying to you when I came into the house. If she starts that again you let me know! I won't let her treat you that way!"

Woody merely nodded as Jordan left the dining room to go to the living room. As he started to set the table he wondered why Jordan had acted the way she had. It was almost as if she cared for him! Well…he knew she cared, but this had seemed a bit more than that. It was like she had been defending her man… almost as if she loved him!

No, that couldn't be it. Jordan was never shy about how she felt about things and knowing that he loved her if she had figured out she loved him, she would have just come out and told him. She wouldn't have had any reason to keep something like that from him. He probably would have gone around about it in his head several more times, but before he could, his mother came in with a serving platter full of the roast, potatoes, and carrots.

"That looks as good as it smells, mom," Woody told her.

"Thank you son, I hope your pretty wife thinks so too. Where is she?"

"I told her to put her feet up for a few minutes before we ate. I'll go and get her."

The meal _was_ as good as it looked and smelled. Both Jordan and Woody told Evelyn this several times over, but the truest test was that Jordan had asked for seconds and Woody, thirds! Evelyn was very pleased at that, but she warned them they needed to save room for desert.

"Oh, but I couldn't eat another bite!" Jordan protested.

"Mom! Why didn't you say that when I _asked_ for thirds, rather than when I was done eating them?!"

She grinned and told him, "Maybe I wanted more for Jordan and I!" At his look of outrage she said, "Don't worry it will keep until after the two of you open the gifts I brought."

The three of them cleared the table together and then Evelyn told them to go to the living room while she went to her room and brought out the presents.

As she came into the room with a suitcase, Evelyn announced, "These are from your four sisters. I had to remind them that I could only take things that would fit into a suitcase several times!" She opened the case and pulled out a rather large three inch thick square box. "This is from Kim, she will be a senior at Beloit College. She is studying to be an accountant and is the oldest of my girls."

Woody reached out to take the gift from his mother and then passed it to Jordan to open. Inside was a beautiful blue leather baby album. Mrs. Hoyt said, "She was going to have his name put on it, but we didn't know what you had chosen then. You could have it done when you come and visit."

To be continued…


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

"Thank you Mrs…Evelyn and please be sure to thank Kim for us too," Jordan told her.

"Oh I will, but they will all be home when you are there so you can thank them yourself. Now this next one is from Marla, who will be a junior at Lakeland College. She is going to be a journalist when she is out of school."

The box she handed over was a bit smaller, but its thickness made up for that. It turned out to be a snuggly to carry the baby in. Jordan was about to say how great she thought it was when Evelyn said, "I told her that was a very weird gift! For heavens sake it looks like a backpack to put a baby in! Why in my day it was good enough to carry your baby in your arms!"

"But mom, think how much easier it would be to get your groceries in the car if you had your hands free to carry them?!" Woody protested.

"That is what bag boys are for Woodrow! Or don't you have those here in the big city? I mean even at home the only store that still does, is Old Pop Roberts store! Over at the Piggly Wiggly you have to ask them to get someone to help you and then when they are done they stand around like they are waiting for you to give them money!"

"That is shocking mom!" Woody replied, tongue in cheek.

"I know!" she agreed in all seriousness, as she pulled out the next gift and handed it to them. "This one is from Teresa, who will be a sophomore at Georgetown University of Nursing. She is going to be a nurse!"

This gift turned out to be a baby monitor system. Again Evelyn had something to say about it, "I told her you wouldn't need something so sill as that in an apartment! It's not like you would have to leave the baby in the house and go out to the barn!"

"That is true, mom, but I am sue we will still be able to put it to good use."

With a sigh, Evelyn handed them an envelope, "I am not sure if Daphne was being thoughtful about me having to take the gifts on a plane or if she just couldn't afford more than a card. Although she is going to Mount Mary College on a full scholarship in the fall she is already up there working this summer to make extra spending money. I've offered to make sure she has enough money, but she wants to do things on her own. She is my baby and is planning on being a pharmacist."

Jordan opened the envelope and found the card Evelyn had talked about. But tucked inside that card was a gift certificate for a stroller. She showed it to Woody who took it from her and passed it to his mother.

"Oh," she said softly. "Ummm, that was nice of her."

"Yes it was, mom. We will thank them all when we come to visit, but please tell them that we love all the gifts when you get home."

"I will," Evelyn replied, getting up. "But I still have a few things from me." She left with the suitcase and returned with a different one. Opening it up, she pulled out a blanket. "That is a quilt that I made for Woody when he was a baby. I would have made a new one for your baby, but there wasn't time."

"It's lovely, Evelyn, thank you," Jordan told her after opening the quilt on her lap.

"Yeah, thanks mom."

"Oh, I have more!" she reported and brought out an aged teddy bear with a new blue satin ribbon around his neck. "This used to be Woody's too."

"Aw mom!" he protested.

"Well since I seem to be embarrassing my son anyway I may as well bring out his Christening gown. I was hoping that you would use it for your son when you are in Wisconsin."

Jordan looked at Woody, unsure what to do, but Woody had been ready for this, "Mother, I _told_ you that we hadn't discussed having the baby christened or not. That is a decision Jordan and I will make on our own!" Woody informed her sternly.

To be continued…


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Mrs. Hoyt was quiet for a moment and then answered, "Well the gown is here if the two of you should decide to use it. Now I also made a few things for the baby as well. It's all well and good to have family items, but you should have new things for the baby too. This may look like just another homemade bear, but he has dried lavender and chamomile flowers inside and they will help little Riley to sleep. You just leave him in the corner of his crib and he will do the rest."

"Thanks mom! That sounds like it will come in very handy. There are nights I could use something like that. I don't suppose you could make an adult version?!"

"Of course I can, but I doubt you need it in bear form. How about a small decorative pillow to put on your nightstand?"

"That would be perfect," Woody told her. "What else did you make?"

"I made a bunch of these cotton diaper covers because I figured that here in the city you probably only have those awful plastic disposable kinds. At least with these covers, they won't look as bad."

Jordan looked at the odd little contraptions wondering if she would be able to figure out how to put them on, but then she remembered Evelyn was staying to help out with the baby and maybe she could watch her so she wouldn't look as if she didn't have a clue, which she actually didn't.

"Thank you Evelyn, these are very pretty."

"You are very welcome, my dear, and last but not least, I have a special coming home outfit if you don't already have one picked out."

The parents to be looked at each other a moment and then Jordan said, "We didn't really have anything extra special planned, just a little yellow sleeper with a duck on the front of it."

"Oh that will work out perfectly then! I made a sweater, hat, booties, and blanket set for him in mint green and lavender. They should go just fine with the yellow sleeper."

"A blanket and sweater in July, mom?!" Woody questioned.

"Yes," she insisted. "You always want to dress a baby one layer warmer than yourself and blanket is as much to keep the sun off of him as it is to keep him warm. I made everything very light weight and 100% cotton so it breathes."

"It sounds like you've thought of everything Evelyn. I will be sure to find room for this in my hospital bag," Jordan told her, running her hand over the fine workmanship on the tiny sweater she was holding.

"Anything that you don't have room for, I am sure Woody and I can bring with us."

"Of course we can Jordie," Woody agreed.

The next day was her due date and both Evelyn and Woody were shocked when she came into the kitchen for breakfast dressed for work.

"Where do you think you are going?!" her husband demanded.

"Woody, I feel fine and just because the doctor has picked this date on the calendar doesn't meat it is the day Riley will be born. I don't feel any different today than I did yesterday so I don't see any reason why I shouldn't go in to work."

Support for her argument came from an unexpected source, "Jordan is right Woody. Not one of the five of you children showed up on your due dates. You were a day early…"

Evelyn paused only a moment to grin at Jordan when she muttered, "It figures," before going on to say, "Marla was three days early, Teresa and Daphne were two and four days late respectively, Kim was over a week late."

"So, there's no reason I shouldn't go to work today!" Jordan insisted. "Women are in labor for hours after their water breaks, so even if it starts at work I'll have plenty of time to call you to meet me at the hospital. I'll even put my bag in the car so I will have it with me."

"Alright," he sighed. "Having the bag with you is a good idea, but I will take it out to the car for you."

To be continued…


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Knowing when to give in graciously because she had won her main point, Jordan agreed. After saying she would see Evelyn that evening they left the apartment.

Woody put the bag in the car and then kissed her cheek reminding her to drive carefully.

There were surprised looks all around the morgue when she walked in, but after one look at her face they all wisely chose not to comment on it. Her work day was as boring as the last few weeks had been. Garret kept her firmly tied to her desk doing paperwork and Jordan began to wonder why she had fought so hard to keep working right up to the last second.

She was more than a little grumpy by the end of the day because of all the paperwork as well as how everyone had been treating her with kid gloves or as if she were about to explode at any second. When she had headed for the break room to refill her coffee mug, Jordan had only gotten as far as the window to Bug and Nigel's lab. They had both jumped to their feet and come running into the hall to see what she wanted. Seeing her coffee mug, Nigel had taken it from her and trotted off to the break room to get her a refill while Bug took her arm and walked her back to her office.

At lunch it was clear that a conspiracy was taking place to keep her from leaving the building. Lily had come into her office to tell her they had gotten together and ordered a pizza as a send off to her coming maternity leave starting. Jordan was never one to turn down free food especially when it was pizza, so bit her tongue over the protests of overprotecting her.

The afternoon was even worse than the morning had been. Someone stopped by about every half an hour to see if there was anything she needed. By 5pm she was about ready to scream!

When both Bug and Nigel came by within ten minutes of each other with an offer to walk her to her car she had finally had enough! Jordan grabbed her purse and as she headed for the elevator alone, she vowed that if she still wasn't in labor tomorrow, she would either not come into work, or if she did would announce that if anyone treated her like a fragile flower she would kill them!

Woody was entering the apartment as she came down the hall and they smiled at each other when the aroma of dinner hit them as they walked in.

Dinner was wonderful. Evelyn was a very good cook. It was clear where Woody got his skill from. The rest of the evening passed with the three of them playing cards and then watching the evening news before bed. Jordan was silently grateful that the only concern Woody and Evelyn showed throughout the evening were a few veiled glances.

Just as they were about to go to bed, Woody made the comment that it was just like Jordan to be late and not have the baby on her due date. The person in question threw him a dirty look as she closed her bedroom door with a bit more force than necessary.

About 3am she awoke with a twinge in her back that wouldn't let her sleep, so she got out of bed and quietly made her way into the kitchen. She really hadn't eaten much at dinnertime. Oh it had been good and Jordan had liked it, but she had just been so tired she hadn't felt much like eating. Now, however, that she was awake, she discovered that she was starving!

As quietly as she could, she started pulling the left overs out of the fridge and filled a plate. Knowing that the oven would be quieter than the microwave to reheat the food, she also knew she didn't want to wait. So instead, she pulled the food out before the 'finished' beeping cycle could potentially wake the other two in the apartment.

The beef stroganoff, baked broccoli, even though it had cheese on it, and the fresh baked rolls, were just as good reheated as they had been hours earlier. Then, with her tummy full, even though her back was still aching, Jordan went back to bed.

To be continued…


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Once again Jordan went to work the next morning, after she'd had a hearty breakfast and listened to pleas from Woody to take it easy, of course.

At work, she faced the concerned faces of her co-workers at how slowly she was moving towards the break room. Her back was still hurting even if she hadn't told Woody and Evelyn that before she'd left the apartment that morning. Jordan had known they would never have let her come to work, but she also knew she would have been bored to death at home. At least paperwork was better than soap operas or afternoon game shows!

By lunch the backache still hadn't let up, if anything it was getting worse. The problem was that it was sapping all of her energy. She was so tired by lunch that she could hardly move.

Jordan decided to combat her dilemma with that tried and true pick-me-up, caffeine! Picking up her oversized mug, that today seemed to weigh about ten pounds, she began to shuffle her way to the break room.

Bug, Nigel, and Lily were there when she arrived, caught in the age old battle of whether to go out to lunch or order something to be delivered. When she went straight for the coffee pot all three of them started to protect at once.

Whether it was the pain in her back, or the frustration of being beyond her due date, or possibly that she had just had enough pampering to last her a lifetime, Jordan snapped. She slammed her still empty mug down on the counter, planted her fists on her almost non-existent waist and started to let them have it.

However, she had only managed to get out, "Now you guys listen here," out before Lily was pointing to the floor at her feet.

"What?!" Jordan demanded in irritation at the interruption of her tirade.

"I am guessing that what Lily is trying to indicate is that just because this is called the break room, it is probably not where you might have wanted to have your water break," Garrett said as he entered the room and assessed the situation at a glance.

"I really just wanted to bring it to her attention, but your version works too, Garrett," Lily replied.

When nothing else was said, all eyes went to Jordan who was looking down at the floor. Lily approached her, putting an arm around her shoulders and said, "Jordie, I think you're in labor."

Jordan's eyes flew up to meet Lily's and she snapped, "Well of course I'm in labor!"

"What should we do?!" questioned Bug.

As they stood there as if in a frozen moment Garrett started taking charge and issuing orders, "Nigel, clean this up. Bug, gather up Jordan's things from her office, I'll need her car keys. I'm sure she has her bag in there. Lily, get Jordan changed into some scrub pants, so she doesn't have to travel in wet clothes. I'll call Woody and tell him to head to the hospital."

Everyone jumped to follow orders from the boss they were used to having take charge. Within minutes everything had been done and they were all at the elevator to see Jordan and Garrett off. The three not going along promised to check in and see how she was doing and to come by right after work to see the baby.

However, Jordan was never one to do things the easy way, and when Bug, Nigel, and Lily arrived at the hospital six hours later Jordan was still in labor. Evelyn, Max, and LaVon were also packed into the small waiting room. Tuyen was out of town at a conference for young women in teaching roles. The only other family member not accounted for was Jordan's Aunt Meredith who was in Spain for the summer.

Midnight came and went as the waiting parties took turns pacing up and down the hall. Throughout the evening Woody had come out every so often to give them updates and give them each a turn to go in and see Jordan for a few minutes and offer their encouragement and support.

To be continued…


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Finally at 1:01am on the 12th of July little Riley Jordan Hoyt came into the world already screaming his head off even before the doctor had a chance to give him the traditional tap on his bottom.

Jordan was so exhausted by that point she didn't even want to look at the screaming creature that had caused her so much pain. That was until she looked up and saw Woody standing next to her with the tiny blue wrapped bundle. As she saw him smile down at the baby that wasn't his with a loving smile, then gently place him in her arms, the truth finally hit her and she blurted out, "I love you."

Woody's grin grew wider and he said, "Do you hear that Riley? Your mother loves you."

Jordan rolled her eyes, between the pain she had just been through and the exhaustion she was feeling, she really wasn't in the 'hearts and flowers' mood that she should have been for an announcement like this, so she just declared, "No, you big lug! I love YOU!"

It was truly a good thing Woody had already placed the baby in Jordan's arms because of what she was saying hit him. "You DO?!" he questioned incredulously.

"Yeah, but you don't have to make a big deal of it," she tried to downplay her declaration, unsure of how he would react to it.

Meanwhile, the doctor and nurse in the room were taking this all in with open mouthed surprise. It wasn't until they had to deliver the afterbirth and the other things necessary after a birth that they started to move again.

Woody smiled from ear to ear and smoothed a stray hair back from her face as he told her, "Jordan, your love is the biggest deal in the world to me! And if you hadn't just given birth I would sweep you up in my arms and twirl you around the room!"

As one of the nurses came to take the baby to be weighed, measured, and cleaned up, she softly told Woody, "I wouldn't recommend that."

Both new parents laughed even if Jordan's was on the weak side. Woody leaned over and kissed her forehead saying, "Why don't you get some sleep while I go and give everyone the good news?"

Jordan looked at him in confusion, "That I love you?" she questioned.

"No, silly," he laughed. "That Riley arrived and is whole and healthy."

"Oh, yeah that," she smiled and was asleep in the next moment.

As Woody was about to leave the room, the nurse that had taken Riley told him that he would be in the nursery in a few moments if the family wanted to see him.

Riley's first viewing was met with 'oooh's" and 'aww's all around. He had weighed in at a very respectable 7lbs 10ozs, measured 20.5 inches long, and had a loudly proven set of healthy lungs. When the baby quieted down and fell asleep everyone that had been awaiting his arrival realized that they were just as tired as Riley was. Max offered to make breakfast for anyone that wanted to come to the bar, but it seemed the consensus was home and bed sounded better.

As everyone said their good-bye's Woody told his mother he would take her back to the apartment and then return to be with Jordan when she woke up. Evelyn assured her son that he could easily catch a few hours of sleep in his own bed before coming back. Jordan would sleep for hours after giving birth.

He needed this assurance repeated a couple of times before he felt sure enough to agree to taking a nap when the two of them got back to the apartment. However, once he was convinced it was true he was out as soon as his head hit the pillow. With all the emotional as well as physical effort that had gone into the evening there really wasn't anything that could have kept him awake after he let himself relax.

Woody's dreams were filled with Jordan telling him that she loved him. But then again most of the dreams he'd had since their first meeting were the same. That was why when he awoke to the alarm he had set he was sure that part of the night before had been a dream instead of reality just like all his other dreams had been since he'd known her.

To be continued…


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

His mother was still asleep, so after grabbing a banana that he could eat in the car, he left a note telling her he had gone to the hospital.

He arrived just as the nurse finished changing Riley's diaper and was going to wake Jordan so she could nurse him. Instead, when the young woman saw Woody, she asked if he wanted to wake his wife. With a grin, he took the baby he already felt like a father to, and leaned over to tenderly wake Jordan.

One eye popped open and seeing him so close to her she smiled ruefully. "You were awake?" he questioned.

"Like I could sleep through all the racket that little guy makes!" she laughed.

His grin widened, "So you were faking, were you?"

Jordan shook her head at his silliness as the nurse handed her the baby. Unselfconscious that Woody was standing so near, Jordan opened her gown and began to nurse Riley.

Woody wasn't sure what to do! He was torn between his fascination at watching this very intimate act between mother and son, as well as the fact that this was the first time he had seen her breasts…well okay, it was only one breast, but still! He also felt like an intruder on this private moment and embarrassed at his less than pure reaction to her partial nudity.

As he was trying to decide between gawking some more or averting his eyes and possibly leaving the room, the nurse spoke. She told them their doctor would be in soon on his rounds and it was highly likely they could go home at that time.

Woody's mouth fell open and he questioned, "What are you talking about?!"

Jordan sighed, "Woody I tried to tell you this when the subject was brought up on the maternity ward tour before Riley was born. As soon as mother and child are pronounced okay, they can go home."

"But in Wisconsin women stay in the hospital three days after having a baby! You just came in last night and it's only been seven hours since Riley was born!" he protested.

"I know," she told him. "But this is a big city hospital and they are very busy. Riley and I are fine, so there is no reason we can't go home."

"That is as long as you can take a walk up and down the hall before the doctor comes around," the nurse cautioned.

"I'll do it as soon as this guy finishes nursing," Jordan stated.

Woody sat down in the chair next to the bed, still a bit dazed at how fast things were moving. Yesterday it had been just the two of them, only friends as far as he knew and now they were a family of three, and Jordan was claiming that she loved him! He had hoped to find time while she was here in the hospital to be able to talk to her about that. It was pretty certain that with his mother at the apartment they would have very little time alone to talk. Then to find out that Jordan was going home so quickly and would still need to finish nursing, accomplish a walk, and see the doctor before she was released…well it didn't leave much time for an intimate little talk!

When Jordan asked him to take Riley and put him in his bed so she could go to the bathroom and get dressed Woody had to shake himself so he could do as she asked. She wanted to be ready when the doctor said she could go home. Woody suggested that she save her energy for the walk and get dressed afterwards.

Seeing the wisdom of his words when she felt how wobbly she was as she shuffled to the bathroom, Jordan told him she would wait. With his arm around her waist, they made one slow circuit down the hall, around the nurses' station, and back to her room. She had to admit that just that little bit of a walk had tired her out more than she had expected.

Woody helped her back into bed and advised her to take a short nap while he got her things and the baby ready to go. Jordan nodded, already half asleep.

To be continued…


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

The doctor coming into the room woke her and she frowned at Woody for letting her sleep so long that she hadn't had time to dress so she could show the doctor just how ready she was to go home. In the end it didn't matter after all, the doctor said both she and the baby were doing fine and there was no reason they couldn't go home as soon as she was ready. Jordan assured him that would only be minutes away and headed to the bathroom with the clothes Woody had laid out for her to dress for the trip home.

While Jordan dressed, Woody made a quick call to the morgue to let them all know that they were on their way home from the hospital. Garrett quickly authorized an extended lunch break and unbeknownst to Woody or Jordan they all headed over to their apartment to be there when they arrived with Riley.

Evelyn was happy to see them when the got there and watched as Bug and Nigel hung a large "It's a boy!" sign over the main entrance to the apartment building. Inside, Lily and Evelyn prepared lunch for everyone. Garrett basically felt like a fifth wheel, with nothing to do until Lily saw the expression in his eyes and asked him to help out with lunch preparation. He could set the table and carry things back and forth even if he wasn't much of a cook.

What none of them knew, was that there was someone lurking across the street from the Hoyt's apartment watching all that was going on and waiting for the trio to arrive from the hospital. When the car pulled up, the waiting figure moved to a more advantages spot.

Woody helped Jordan from the car and then unclipped the baby from his car seat. Handing Riley to Jordan, he grabbed the new diaper bag and Jordan's suitcase from the back. They approached the building together and her co-workers set up a cheer as they got to the door.

Jordan and Woody paused to look up at the banner and smiled then offered their thanks to their friends. What no one outside the apartment building noticed was a figure across the street snapping a picture of the scene. The group entered the apartment as the figure across the street quickly slipping away.

Even though the short car ride from the hospital had tired her out, Jordan still needed to eat to keep up her strength and to feed the baby. So, she tried to hide the fact that all she wanted to do was to go to her room and lay down from the people that had gone to all this trouble to welcome her and Riley home.

Evelyn, however, had been in Jordan's position five times and knew how much her daughter-in-law needed rest. As soon as everyone had finished eating she shooed them back to work as tactfully as possible. When the door closed behind them she told Woody to help Jordan to her room for a nap while she settled Riley in his new nursery.

Jordan and Riley slept on and of for the rest of the day, both of them were tired after the stress of the birth. It was 10:30 pm when Evelyn said she was going to bed. She told them that she used to stay up to watch Johnny Carson after the ten o'clock news, but she didn't like Jay Leno at all so saw no reason to stay up any later. Giving both Woody and Jordan a kiss on the forehead, Riley was in bed again, so she told them good-night and that she would see them at breakfast.

Finally alone with his wife who appeared was actually pretty alert, Woody suddenly didn't know what to do or say this was the first time they had been alone like this since Jordan's startling declaration of love in the delivery room. He sat there wondering if he should say something or if he should just pretend it hadn't happened, basically waiting to see if she would bring it up again. Maybe it had just been blurted out in the stress of the moment and really hadn't meant anything at all. While he was just about to make a decision about what to do, Jordan took it out of his hands.

To be continued…


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

"Woody, I meant what I said in the hospital. I know it wasn't probably the best or most romantic way to tell you, but I did mean it. I had been having feelings about you that I couldn't or wouldn't let myself identify, but in that moment when you looked down at Riley with such love and then at me with the same look as you placed him in my arms I suddenly knew that those feelings were love. I love you Woody Hoyt!"

He felt like he should ask someone to pinch him! This couldn't really be happening! Jordan loved him?! At long last?! He had never believed that this would come to pass no matter how long he had hoped for it. Then he realized she was waiting for him to say something. "Jordan, I have loved you almost since the first moment we met and if this is really true you have made all my dreams come true!"

"It's true. I'm just over the moon that you mean it!" he exclaimed.

She probably had intended to say more, but when she opened her mouth to do so all that came out was a yawn. He grinned at her and helped her to her feet. Gently he questioned, "Jordan, I know it will be several weeks before we can be together and I guess that I am even presuming that you will want that, but I was just wondering if you sleep with me tonight? I would really just love to hold you in my arms."

Jordan lightly punched him on the shoulder as she replied, "Of course I want to 'be together with you' when these stupid six weeks are over, and I would love to sleep in your arms tonight, but we will need to move Riley's bassinette into your room for when he wakes during the night."

"Wouldn't it just be easier if we shared your bed so we don't have to move him while he is sleeping?" Woody asked softly.

Rolling her eyes for not thinking of that herself, she sleepily nodded and they walked to her room arm in arm.

It wasn't the passionate night that one would expect after a declaration of love that had been so long in coming, rather, it was a sweet tender romantic night that suited them just fine at this point.

When Riley woke in the middle of the night to be fed Woody enjoyed a moment of staring into his wife's sleepy face before he got up, changed the baby's diaper, and brought him to Jordan to be nursed. He watched this tender act with loving eyes and when Jordan caught him staring almost blushed when she winked at him. It was so hard to believe that after all this time loving her in what he thought was in vain, that she now returned his love! He didn't know how he could be any happier.

While Evelyn was making breakfast and Jordan was giving Riley his morning feeding, Woody went out to get the morning paper. Each apartment had a cubbyhole located under the enclosed box where their mail was delivered. The newspapers, business and sales circulars, as well as local flyers could be put in the cubby in the lobby of the building. Names were clearly marked on these places so everyone knew who they belonged to. Woody thought nothing of this everyday fact as he collected the paper and re-entered the elevator to go back up to the apartment.

At least that was the case until he unfolded the paper to check out the morning's headlines and found something he was not expecting. Something that put a chill down his back and fear in his heart for Jordan and the baby!

To be continued…


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Inside the paper was a Polaroid picture of them returning home from the hospital with the baby. There was no note, no envelope, no return address, but it wasn't necessary. Woody knew who this was from and that was why he feared for his family!

His dilemma as the elevator reached the fifty floor was what to do about this. He could imagine the fury of Jordan's reaction to this, but it certainly wasn't a time to upset her with evidence that Palmer was keeping watch on them. But Riley must be protected and the more people on their guard against him being kidnapped the better chance they had of keeping it from happening. Woody also had a hard time picturing himself telling his mother about this, after all, they had so far let her believe that Riley was his son.

Jordan's friends at the morgue would want to help, but they were not trained professionals. That left his fellow detectives and the officers at the precinct. They also didn't know the truth about Riley's biological father, but they wouldn't really have to in order to know there was a threat to him and to be able to protect him. However, if there was all of a sudden a police presence around them Jordan would figure out something was going on. So, he was back to the beginning about whether to tell her or not.

Maybe this was a one time thing, and it would all go away? But, then he remembered Jordan's feelings of being watched on the 4th when they were in the park and other times as well, and he knew that wouldn't happen. Palmer had been waiting for the baby to be born and now that he knew that he had a son, the 'it's a boy' banner over the door that was also in the picture Woody held, told him that. He was letting them know he was after the child and there was nothing they could do about it. Palmer was playing the mind games he was so good at. Taunting them, by letting them know he was watching, but would not know when he would strike. However, Woody was not going to let this vicious man get to his family! He would protect them with all that he had!

In the end Woody knew he would have to tell Jordan. After all, Riley was her child and not only did she have the right to know he was in danger, but had the right to help protect him from Palmer.

Entering the apartment, he found his mother putting food on the table and Jordan heading into the nursery to put the sleeping baby in his crib. Knowing that the longer he delayed in telling her, the harder it would be, he followed Jordan into the nursery.

When she had tucked the baby in, Woody took her by the hand and led her over to the rocking they had bought so they could rock Riley to sleep. Jordan gave him an odd look at this action and the look turned to concern when he squatted down next to her with a worried expression. "What is it Woody?!" she wanted to know.

"Jordie, I don't want you to freak out about this, but Palmer is still out there…" he paused for breath and she jumped in.

"I know that! I was the one that had the feelings of being watched! I'm just glad it stopped before Riley got here!"

"It hasn't stopped," he told her as gently as he could. "I found this tucked into our morning paper," he finished, handing her the Polaroid.

Jordan looked down at the picture with a quizzical look and went still at what she saw. Her eyes flew to Riley sleeping in his crib as if to make sure he was really safe. Then she turned back to Woody a hateful anger burning in her eyes. "I won't let him take or harm Riley in any way!" she all but snarled.

"Neither will I Jordie! We will keep him safe from Palmer, I promise you that!"

To be continued…


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter 54

"What should we do? I don't want him hurt! I really wasn't prepared to love the little guy because of Palmer and all, but now that he is here none of that seems to matter! He is ours, and that's all that matters now!"

"I agree with you Jordie, and together we will make sure he is safe! We just have to talk about who we are going to tell."

"Your mother!" she gasped.

"Yeah that is the first big question. Do we tell her or not?"

"Woody, I have to leave that up to you. She is your mother and you should make that choice. The only thing I will say on it is that I know you, and how much you value honesty. It was why I was so surprised you didn't tell her from the beginning. I know you were trying to protect me, but I am a big girl and am used to facing the mistakes I have made in life."

"Wow! For having only one thing to say you sure hit it on the head with a mallet, don't you?!" he grinned ruefully, knowing she was right.

With a quick supportive embrace they went into the dining room to tell Evelyn the whole story.

Surprisingly Evelyn took the fact of Riley's parentage and the trouble Palmer had caused pretty well. As a mid-west farmer's wife she had seen more than Woody knew about and her main concern was for Jordan and Riley's safety. "You just tell me what this scallywag looks like so I can be on the watch for him! Believe you me, if he even comes within spittin' distance of my grandson and daughter-in-law he will be sorry!"

Woody shook his head, wondering how his mother could continue to surprise him, but he was also proud of her for her support. "That's just it mom, as a spy, Palmer is a master of disguise, he could look like anyone."

"Well then why don't we just pack up things and you three can come back to Wisconsin with me?" Evelyn suggested.

"Thank you Evelyn, but I want to be in town for my father's wedding and besides that I won't let Palmer scare us into changing our lives that way! We just need to make sure Riley is protected every minute of the day and go on with out lives as normally as we can!"

"We need to protect you too my dear, Riley isn't the only one in this picture," Evelyn pointed out.

"Woody is in it too!" Jordan protested.

"Yes, but he doesn't have any reason to harm me Jordie."

"Oh?! Really?! What about the fact that you are someone I love? If he were out to hurt me, the best way to do that would be to hurt someone I love like you and Riley! Then, if that were not enough, there is the fact that you are raising his son as your own! If Palmer isn't out to hurt me, but instead wants Riley for himself then the fact you are here with him puts you in danger too."

"That may be, but as a cop I am trained in how to take care of myself," Woody assured her.

"And you don't hear on the news about cops getting killed all the time?!" she snapped.

"I have to agree with Jordan on that one Woody, dear. You do hear about police getting killed. You may be trained, but if the bad guys are really determined they will find a way," his mother started. "We just need to try and figure out what this Palmer fellow wants and that way we can be prepared." She paused for a moment to think and then went on, "Now if he had wanted just Jordan you would think that if he is as clever as you claim he would have found a way to stay with her. I am sorry for saying that Jordan, but I don't mean to hurt you with that."

"No, Evelyn you are right. Plus I didn't start getting the feelings of being 'watched' until quite late in my pregnancy. So, whatever his plan, I am sure it has more to do with Riley than me."

"I have to agree with that," Woody concluded. "So then we need to figure out if he wants to kill or kidnap Riley."

Jordan had moaned slightly when Woody mentioned Riley's possible murder, but even as he reached out to take her hand, she knew they had to consider all possibilities.

To be continued…


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

"If he wanted the baby dead, why would he have gotten me pregnant in the first place?" Jordan questioned.

"Good point," Woody stated. "Unless the reason is to deny you the baby, it he can't share him with you."

"I doubt a person, no matter how bad, would want to kill their own child. I have a feeling that he wants the baby for himself and if he is as evil as you two say, then that would have the double benefit of hurting Jordan too," Evelyn suggested.

"I see what you are saying, Evelyn, but what in the world would a spy and an assassin want or do with an infant in their life? Unless he is just out to hurt me by taking Riley? I can't see him wanting to raise a baby by himself."

"We might never know his reasons Jordie, but one thing is certain we won't let anything happen to Riley."

"Thank you! Both of you! You have been so supportive and wonderful when you didn't have to be. I…"

Evelyn reached out her hand and put it over Jordan's, knowing where she was going with what she was saying and told her, "That is what family does for each other dear, and never forget that _is_ what you and Riley are, Jordan, family!"

A week went by with nothing else from Palmer. While Woody went to work as usual the other three stayed close to home with only Evelyn leaving to get groceries when needed. The gang from the morgue stopped by a few at a time to visit and keep Jordan up on the news at the office. A few of Woody's co-workers stopped by to offer well wishes. Max, LaVon, and Tuyen were frequent visitors, but other than that, it was very quiet. Both during their visits to the apartment, and the hospital before Jordan and Riley came home, Max had commented on how much Riley looked like Jordan had as a baby. Since she and Palmer both had dark hair and eyes no one had wanted to say anything along those lines until Max' statement for fear of sounding placating. However, once Max had said that the baby looked like his mother it was easy for everyone else to jump on board and agree.

As the second and third week went by with nothing happening, everyone wondered if it was all over. Evelyn decided that Jordan was secure enough to manage on her own and returned to Wisconsin. She assured them she would be marking off the days until they arrived in Wisconsin too.

The night before her dad's wedding Woody went to the airport to pick up Admiral AJ Chegwidden. He had made such an impression on the Cavanaugh family when he had come to meet them. At the time he had been engaged to Max' sister Meredith, but when they were sure that she would not be able to be at the wedding, he had been invited. AJ was going to spend the night at Woody and Jordan's at their insistence rather than go to a hotel.

Jordan had made a dinner that Evelyn had taught her, it also happened to be one of Woody's favorites. Pot roast, potatoes, carrots, and gravy. Jordan even had a cherry cobbler in the oven for desert.

When the two men entered the apartment she greeted them both with a hug and then asked Woody to take care of Riley, who had just started to cry, while she checked on things in the kitchen. AJ followed Woody into the nursery and was glad to see how naturally Woody treated the child that was not his by blood.

"You do that like a pro," AJ stated as Woody changed Riley's diaper.

"I feel like one and it hasn't even been a month yet. Who knew that a baby could go through so many diapers in a day?!"

"I remember thinking the same thing when my daughter was born."

Jordan's call for them to come to the table stopped any further talk on the subject. Woody placed Riley on a blanket on the floor in clear view of the table so the adults could eat while still keeping an eye on the baby. Over dinner they all caught up on the news in their lives. AJ was not seeing anyone new since his break up with Meredith. They were still at a dead end in the case Mac had come to Boston to investigate. Jordan had and easy labor and delivery. Woody was up for a promotion at work and then as Jordan was serving the cherry cobbler, they told AJ about Palmer's reappearance in their lives.

To be continued…


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

His concern was immediate as well as anger over the fact that Palmer had not been caught. This anger was not focused on Woody for not catching Palmer, it was just an in general reaction to a man that could cause so much damage and continue to avoid being captured.

The three of them talked late into the night trying to come up with some kind of trap they could set for Palmer. Unfortunately they couldn't think of anything that wouldn't put Jordan or Riley at risk. Neither man was willing to do that, even though Jordan said she would be willing to act as bait as long as Riley could be left out of it. Her offer was quickly and vehemently vetoed. It was after Riley's 2am feeding that they all decided that they needed to get some sleep so they could enjoy the wedding.

The banana nut muffins Evelyn had made before she left for Wisconsin were well if sleepily received that morning for breakfast and then it was time to start getting ready for the wedding. The ceremony was to be at 10am, with a lunch reception to be held in the party room of a local restaurant. It had taken some convincing for Max to see that they should have the reception at a place a little bit nicer than his bar.

The invited guests, other than family, included Max' friend and cook from the bar, one old police buddy from his days on the force. Jordan's co-workers at the morgue had also been invited because Max had come to know them well during the Unsolved Cases nights they'd had. LaVon had only her daughter coming, because her ex-husband hadn't allowed her to have any friends. Because Max' sister, Meredith, was out of the country AJ Chegwidden had been asked to come. So the grand total for the luncheon was only twelve.

After feeding Riley again, Jordan dressed in the lovely gown LaVon had chosen for her and Tuyen to wear as they stood up for her during the ceremony. Max' attendants, the cook and his police buddy, had been told that dark suits and ties would be fine. He hadn't wanted anyone to go to the expense of rented formal wear.

Riley was dressed in Woody's christening gown. Jordan had figured since they were going to be in church, something that rarely happened, they might as well kill two birds with one stone, so to speak and have the baby baptized at the same time. They had chosen LaVon and Garrett to be godparents, even though the latter had protested that his skills as a father were questionable, he was over ruled and in the end had agreed to take on the job.

Finally all four of them were ready to leave the apartment. Jordan in a dress which was attire she was unaccustomed to, Riley in his christening gown, Woody in a new suit rather than his military uniform. What none of them knew as they walked out of the apartment building was that there was one other person interested in their movements.

However, the moment they exited Jordan's head came up as a chill went down her spine. She tried to pass the baby she was carrying into AJ's arms so she could go running to investigate. Woody's hands were full with the diaper bag and car carrier. AJ's senses were always on the alert and he had seen Jordan's initial reaction. Refusing to take the baby from her, he instead dashed off in the direction Jordan had been staring at with only a one word call to Woody, "Palmer!"

Dropping the items in his hands Woody raced after AJ, leaving Jordan standing there feeling helpless as she held Riley close to her.

Because of the tussle of trying to pass off Riley, Palmer had time to get away. The only thing Woody and AJ found was a Polaroid picture lying behind some bushes of the four of them just as Jordan had sensed his presence. She had been looking straight at where the camera was when the shot was taken. The entire ride to the wedding Jordan fumed that the men were still refusing to let her act as bait to draw Palmer out. Jordan thought about broaching the subject to her father when they arrived at the church, but two things stopped her. It was his wedding day after all, and knowing the man as well as she did, Jordan knew that he would side with Woody and AJ rather than her! Maybe she could come up with a plan to trap him on her own!

If the incident with Palmer wasn't enough to offset the happiness of the day, there was still more drama in store!

To be continued…


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

The ceremony itself was short and sweet. Because of Max and LaVon's ages it was a very traditional one, with only one exception. There was no mention of the word 'obey' in the service, because of the way LaVon's first husband had treated her. Afterwards, everyone got into their cars and headed to the restaurant where the reception was being held only a few blocks away.

When the happy couple walked in they were greeted with cheers and applause. Lunch was served and when most were done eating Max and LaVon rose to cut the small wedding cake that had been ordered from Max' favorite bakery.

Just as they were about to slice into the cake, the doors to the party room swept open. All eyes turned to see who it was, since as far as they all knew everyone was already there and the staff came and went through different doors.

Only one person there didn't know who the mature red-headed woman who entered with such a flourish was. Max' old police buddy had never met his sister, but everyone else knew Meredith Cavanaugh. The cook and crew from the morgue had no idea that the groom's sister wasn't supposed to be there, but the one's 'in the know' had varying degrees of dread in their reactions.

Meredith's ex-fiancé stiffened next to Jordan and she turned to place a hand on his arm, saying, "I am SO sorry AJ!"

"You knew she was coming?" he asked.

"Oh no! I had no clue!" Jordan assured him.

"Then why are you apologizing?"

"Because I am sure this means nothing but trouble."

While they were talking Meredith had made her way to stand between the bride and groom. She wished them both the best and then loudly announced, "And now I simply MUST see my new grand nephew!"

She was almost to Jordan's side when she acted like she was seeing AJ for the first time. "AJ!" she exclaimed, "What a wonderful surprise to see you here!"

"Good afternoon Meredith," he said politely. AJ then stood to offer her his chair with the plan of quickly leaving the room.

Guessing his intentions after the way he had so relentlessly avoided her after their break up, Meredith snagged a chair from another table and pulled it up in such a way that once she had sat down he was trapped in place. All he could do without causing a scene was to sit back down in his own chair.

"What a handsome child, Jordan dear! It's too bad about his ill-fated start in life. I was surprised to hear that you decided to keep him," then she made her earlier commented about being surprised to see AJ a lie. "I was also surprised to hear that AJ would be here at the wedding! When I found out, I just had to find the time to get away." She turned slightly to direct her next comment to the man she had spoke of, "It is good to see you here, AJ."

"It was too bad you couldn't get here in time for the actual ceremony Aunt Meredith!" Jordan shot at the woman.

"I did the best I could dear," Meredith looked contrite.

"Oh really? When did you hear AJ would be here?"

"Two weeks ago…but I had to make arrangements fro someone else to teach my seminars."

Jordan just nodded, clearly not believing her Aunt's excuse. No one made any comment on the fact that AJ had not answered her. However, when she turned to him again it was not possible to avoid answering her this time, "I do so hope that we can find some time to talk together privately, AJ."

"I can't think of anything we have to say to each other Meredith," was his response.

"I can think of several things," she told him. "Would you please allow me to speak with you?"

Knowing that she would not give up on this until she's had her way, AJ said, "Alright Meredith."

"Oh that's wonderful! Maybe we could do that now?" she questioned half rising from her chair in the hopes he would get up too.

"So much for wanting to spend any time with your family!" Jordan muttered half under her breath, but because of how close AJ was to her, he heard.

To be continued…


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter 58

AJ couldn't help but grin at Jordan's accurate assessment of the situation, however, Meredith had turned to look at him and saw the smile which she then assumed was because they were going to talk in private. This assumption made her hope that the conversation would go better than she had been thinking.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Woody incredulously asked Jordan, "Does she really think that she has any chance of getting him back?!"

"I am sure that Aunt Merry has hopes and dreams far beyond any that can be realized. What is incomprehensible to me if she think she has a snowballs chance in hell of getting him back, is she is going to attempt the reconciliation while she is spending the summer with the guy that she cheated on AJ with!"

Woody nodded, agreeing entirely as he wondered what approached Jordan's Aunt Meredith would try on Admiral Chegwidden.

Because the wedding party was already in the restaurant's private dining room set aside for special functions, there wasn't really anywhere else for Meredith and AJ to go. However, since the room could hold a group of fifty people and their group was only slightly more that a fifth of that, it wasn't too hard to find a quiet corner of the room to talk in.

AJ knew how sound carried and because Meredith was most likely not going to have a favorable reaction to her pleas for them to get back together it would be best if she was facing away from the room in general. Once they were as far from the others as possible, AJ said, "Alright Meredith since you have things to say to me, the floor is yours."

"AJ, I've had a lot of time to think about what happened between us," at his arched brow, she changed her wording, "Alright what I did that caused our break up. I am truly sorry for what I did, not only did I betray your trust, but it was a completely stupid thing to do! I have been trying to think of what I could do to get you to forgive me, in the hopes that we could resume our engagement where it left off."

"Meredith, in all honesty I have done some thinking about us as well." He took note of her happy face at his comment and he knew the rest of what he had to say would remove that smile. "However, what we had between us was never a grand passion, but more one of companionship. You know this has to be true because if you had truly been in love with me, what happened not only wouldn't have happened, but it would have been unthinkable. I think we are both better apart and I do wish you the best in finding someone that you love enough that it will allow you to break the cycle you are in."

"But, AJ! You could be that someone!" she protested.

"No Meredith, I couldn't. The love is not there on either side and it needs to be for a marriage to work."

"But you just said you were going to marry me for companionship!" her voice was on the rise.

"Yes, I did Meredith, and you saw how it worked out," he answered mildly. "As I said I wish you all the best, and I should get back to the others."

"But AJ, I'm not done talking to you!" Meredith declared that got notice from some of the others in the room.

"That may be, but I am done listening," he told her as gently as he could, then stepped around her to start back to the others.

Meredith stood there with absolutely no idea what to do. She wanted to scream after him, but she knew that would make her sound shrill and pathetic. There was also the fact that AJ had made it very clear he didn't love her anymore and possibly hadn't at all even when they had been together! She wanted to cry at that thought because even though she had been stupid enough to cheat on him, she really did love AJ! However, crying would also make her look pathetic and could be seen as a play for sympathy which was not what she wanted from AJ.

To be continued…


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

So what could she do? Meredith honestly didn't care about Max or his marriage to that mousey woman. She did like her niece, Jordan, but couldn't understand why she had kept a baby conceived under the circumstances hers had or why she had married that milk-toast detective. AJ would not talk with her any more that day at least so there was no reason to stay. Taking a day breath she headed to the door with her head held and left without a word to anyone.

When AJ returned to their table alone, Jordan couldn't stop herself from looking back at her Aunt. She had tried to get everyone to give AJ and her Aunt Meredith as much privacy as possible by not staring at them. But now she just had to find out what had happened and why her Aunt had allowed AJ to come back to the table alone. "Is everything okay?" she questioned AJ.

"I hope so," he told Jordan. "I wished her well and came back here."

"More than that had to have happened!" Jordan exclaimed.

"It was a private conversation, Jordan," he reported.

"But she's my aunt, and you and I are friends! Surely you can tell me!"

"Jordie…leave it alone," Woody cautioned.

"But…" she started to protest again, but when she saw the look in her husband's eyes her shoulders slumped and she said, "Okay. I'm sorry AJ."

"It's alright, I know you are concerned about both of us…" with a sardonic grin he added, "You will just have to trust that we are both old enough to take care of ourselves."

"Okay," she agreed with a smile and then teased, "I would love you forever if you would snag me a piece of wedding cake while I nurse this little rascal."

"Hey! Why are you offering to love him forever when I am right here!" protested Woody.

"Because you already know that I will love you forever and I know how you are about cake! You would eat yours _and_ mine both if you got a chance!" Jordan laughed.

"How do you know AJ won't do the same?"

"I remembered Aunt Meredith telling me how often he runs and anyone that dedicated to staying in shape wouldn't try and steal cake from a poor new mother!" she sighed dramatically.

"Are you saying that I'm getting out of shape?!"

AJ, who had been listening to the interchange up to that point with a smile said, "I'd better get that cake before you two come to blows!"

Both of them looked startled at his comment then looked at each other and laughed. However, Woody silently made a promise to himself that he would start working out the next day. Jordan promised herself that she would invite him to join her as she used the work out videos she had gotten to help her get back into shape.

AJ returned with two pieces of cake and then Woody got up to get his. Jordan never even realized there was an unspoken pact between the two men to never leave her alone.

That night Meredith Cavanaugh sat in her rental car outside her brother's house waiting for the newlyweds and AJ to return from the reception. As hour after hour went by and no one came, she got madder and madder. She didn't know that Max and LaVon had taken the bridal suite at the Hyatt or that AJ wasn't staying with them, but with Jordan and Woody instead. By the time she was ready to give up it was too late to be calling Jordan's, what with a new baby in residence. So, instead she drove to a hotel and took a room for the night. As she was checking it occurred to her that AJ might be in a hotel. She inquired if he was registered there. When they told her he wasn't, she went up to her room and started calling nearby hotels to see if he was staying in one of them.

Meredith got very little sleep that night and was not in a very good frame of mind that morning. It was a very cantankerous woman that placed a call to Jordan's house as she waited for room service to arrive.

To be continued…


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Jordan had just gotten back to sleep after being up and down all night with a colicky baby and seeing her husband off to work. Answering with a groggy, "Hello," she was unprepared for the angry growling voice that didn't bother with a greeting, but instead demanded, "Is AJ there?! If he is let me talk to him now! I've been trying to track him down half the night!"

"I was up half the night as well Aunt Merry, and I am really not in the mood for you to come off sounding like my boss when I have come in late to work! AJ had a cell phone, why haven't you called him on that?" Jordan countered her Aunt's demands.

"When he sees my number, he ignores my calls. That was part of the reason that when I found out he would be here for the wedding, I had to come. But he wouldn't listen to what I had to say last night!"

"But he went off with you even though he didn't want to, because you had something to say to him! I am sure AJ is the kind of person that would hear you out."

"He wouldn't believe that I loved him and wanted to get back together with him! That is why I need to reach him before my return flight tonight!"

As tired as she was, Jordan didn't even try to hide her snort of distain for her Aunt. "After cheating on him and then admitting you had done the same thing multiple other times, you go off to spend the entire summer with your married lover! To top it all off you allow an entire twenty four hours for this grand reconciliation to happen or you return to the same lover on an already booked flight! I can't blame the man for ignoring your calls! You are my aunt and I am tempted to do the same!"

"You can't mean that Jordie! We are family!"

"I do believe I mentioned that," Jordan sighed.

"So does this mean that you won't put AJ on the phone?"

"I am in bed Aunt Merry and I am not getting out. I just got Riley back to sleep and if you wake him by calling back I will put your number on our caller ID ignore list!" she informed Meredith and hung up as she was protesting, "But Jordie!"

With nothing else to do until the time of her flight back to Spain, and nothing else to loose, Meredith rented a car. She drove over to Jordan's and spent the day sitting out in from of her apartment building waiting for AJ to come out in the hopes that she could talk to him one more time. Unfortunately for her, neither Jordan nor AJ had any reason to go out that day.

Because she was there over a period of several hours Meredith had the chance to notice something causal passers by or even area residents might not have. There were several parcel deliveries to Jordan's building. This might not have been unusual even though it was Sunday if all the boxes were delivered at the same time, or by different services, but instead there was at least three deliveries made by the same tall good looking man at different times throughout the hours she was there.

The man seemed to take quite some time for each delivery, and Meredith could only figure that he was either a bit slow and had a hard time finding the apartment that he was to take the package to, or that he had a girlfriend in the building and was stopping to see her each time. Both thoughts caused a sigh from Meredith because she could have used the distraction of 'chatting up' a good looking man, but she didn't want someone that was slow or taken. She had no way of knowing that one of the parcels that he had delivered would have a very dramatic effect on her niece's family.

With a sigh at the end of her vigil, Meredith pulled away to head for the airport and return to her Professor.

To be continued…


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Woody arrived home from work and without thinking checked their delivery cubby. It was such a part of his usual after work routine it didn't occur to him how unlikely it would be for something to be there on a Sunday. However, this Sunday there was something in the cubby. He picked up the box and saw that it was addressed to Baby Boy Palmer with no return address or any delivery marks on it. This package had to have been put there by hand. It gave him a chill to think that Palmer had been this close to his family! Woody knew that given the chance AJ would protect Jordan and Riley with his life and that Jordan herself would not go down without a fight. But the element of surprise would certainly be on Palmer's side.

On the ride up in the elevator he wondered what he should do with the package. Should he open it himself to see what was in it before upsetting Jordan? Tell her and AJ that it had arrived and ask their opinion on what to do with it? Or simply throw it down the trash shoot, unopened? He was at their apartment door before he had come to a decision.

Entering the apartment he found AJ in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner, but his wife and the baby were no where to be seen.

AJ saw Woody looking around and said with a grin, "Jordan is in the bedroom nursing Riley."

"Good, I have a dilemma. This package was downstairs waiting when I got home. I'm certain it's from Palmer and I didn't know how or if I should tell Jordan."

Taking the package from Woody's hands AJ saw the same things that he had in the elevator. "It doesn't feel heavy enough to have an explosive device in it, but just to be on the safe side, why don't you go to Jordan and keep her and the baby in the bedroom…"

"What do you think you are going to do?!" Woody interrupted.

"I've had some demolition training; I am the best choice to open it."

"How long ago was that?!" the younger man demanded.

Giving him a rueful look, AJ admitted, "When I was in the SEALS…about twenty five years ago."

"You don't think your knowledge might be slightly out of date? I can call the precinct and get the bomb squad here!"

"There might not be time for that. You don't know if it is on a timer or not."

"It's very unlikely because there was no way of knowing when we would pick it up from downstairs. It's more likely, if it is a bomb, that it would be set to go off as it is opened," Woody suggested.

"Then all the more reason for me to open it. Go and protect your family Woody. I will be careful," he instructed taking the package to the farthest corner of the kitchen.

Woody shook his head as he walked towards the bedroom. Jordan was just finishing nursing the baby so he sat down on the corner of the bed to keep his body between the door and his wife and baby. He kept her talking about her day and the preparation for their coming trip to Wisconsin until AJ knocked and then entered the room after they said, "Come in" in unison.

Handing the open box to Woody, because Jordan still held the baby, AJ said, "A gift arrived for the baby today."

"You checked it over good?" Woody asked.

"I did," was AJ's reply.

"Okay, what is going on you two?" Jordan wanted to know.

"We're confident the gift is from Palmer," Woody told her.

"What?! How?!" Jordan cried out, causing Riley to fuss a bit.

As the two men explained, Woody reached into the nest of tissue paper and pulled out a fancy baby rattle. The handle was made of silver and the rattle wasn't plastic, but some kind of expensive porcelain. On the face was painted, in a baby blue color, a picture of a teddy bear. However, it wasn't until Woody had the rattle high enough out of the box that Jordan could see the back of it that she gasped and clutched Riley closer to her. This caused Riley to start crying, but as AJ and Woody looked at Jordan for an explanation they saw she was crying too.

To be continued…


	62. Chapter 62

Chapter 62

On the back of the rattle there was a hand painted picture of an eyeball. Clearly Palmer was saying "I am watching you."

Once Woody and AJ were aware of what she had seen, both rallied to protect her. After throwing the damn rattle to the far side of the room, Woody got up and put his arms around both Jordan and the baby. AJ simply declared, "I am changing my return flight to after yours leaves for Wisconsin tomorrow!"

"But aren't you expected at work tomorrow morning?" Jordan questioned.

"Colonel Mackenzie is a wonderful Chief of Staff and can handle a day without me."

"Thank you AJ. The more protection for Jordan and Riley, the better in my book," Woody said.

"Don't mention it, I feel the same way," AJ replied.

When AJ and Jordan into the dining room for dinner, Woody did what he was now sorry he hadn't done when he first thought of it. He picked up the rattle and tossed it, box and all, down the trash shoot in the hall. Dinner was vey quiet that night, each of them lost in their own thoughts about Palmer.

The original trip to Wisconsin had been planned for a week after Max' wedding so they only had a week to stay before the end of Jordan's maternity leave. However, once Jordan and Evelyn had met and come to like each other the trip was moved up and they would stay two weeks. Now Woody was gladder than ever those plans had been changed. He would feel a lot better having his family several states away from Palmer.

AJ was also glad that they were going to be leaving for Wisconsin the next day. He had no problem changing his airline ticket or by getting Colonel Mackenzie to take charge of the office for the day. However, when given the choice of forty five minutes or two and a half hours between their flight out of Boston and his, AJ chose the longer time. He planned to stay in the airport and make sure no one with even Palmer's general features, like height and weight, took the same flight or a later one than Jordan, Woody, and the baby.

At the gate to their flight the next afternoon, Woody and AJ shook hands as the first thanked the second for helping him watch over his family. Jordan, on the other hand, had developed quite a liking for the man her aunt should have married and passed off Riley to Woody so she could hug AJ good bye.

Both Woody and Jordan breathed easier once the plane had taken off and AJ did the same after prowling the airport to be sure Palmer was not following them.

What none of them had stopped to consider, was that Palmer could have caught a flight to Wisconsin the night before after he had posed as a delivery man and dropped off the baby rattle to their house.

So, believing they had gotten safely away from Boston to have a nice vacation in Wisconsin getting to know his mother even better and meeting his sisters as well as introducing them to their nephew, they all enjoyed a pleasant flight. At the same time, AJ Chegwidden was returning home to Virginia knowing he had done all he could to make sure the young family was safe, but with a niggling fear in the back of his mind because he knew just how treacherous Palmer could be.

Their arrival in Wisconsin made Woody and Jordan feel like visiting royalty. Evelyn and all four of Woody's sisters were there to greet them. It was quickly clear that all four of the girls wanted to be the first to get a chance to hold Riley. Evelyn settled the matter by taking the baby from Jordan and telling her daughters to get the luggage even over their protests that the situation wasn't fair. Woody and Jordan were allowed to do nothing other than point out which suitcases were theirs.

Before long they were all set to go, and heading to the farm house.

To be continued…


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter 63

AJ arrived back in Virginia late that evening, but was at the office early the next morning. He made an official inquiry as to how status of the search for Clark Palmer was going. The report he received was what he had been expecting even if it wasn't what he wanted to hear. There were no new leads and the old ones had only led to dead ends. AJ added his information to the report that Palmer had very recently been in Boston and he was told it would be investigated.

He thought about telling Harm about Palmer's latest activities, but ultimately didn't see the point. What AJ didn't know was that Harm had received a picture of Riley in the bassinette in the hospital along with a note that said) "She thought I was you when this child was conceived. Don't you think he should have been named for one of us? But which?"

Harm looked at the photo and note and had two reactions. His first, was anger that Palmer was still out there and trying to mess with him. He was still upset over the trouble he'd had at Palmer's last trick with the plane crash had him fighting to prove that he, Harmon Rabb Jr., was really still alive! The second reaction, was indifference at the taunt in the note. What did he care about a child that Palmer had created? Except to sympathize with a child that would have a psycho as a parent.

He did, however think that Jordan should know the creep was hanging around her and the kid. So, he placed a call to her Aunt Meredith to get her address and after listening to Meredith's sympathetically telling him that it was too late for him, because Jordan was now married to Detective Hoyt, he was able to get Jordan's address without revealing why he wanted it. Dropping the picture and note into the mail with the brief message, "thought you should know he was still after you", Harm forgot all about the incident.

Evelyn instructed her daughters to take the luggage to Woody's room. She followed with Riley, with Woody and Jordan trailing behind. It was clear that the room had belonged to a boy. There were sports pennants and posters on the wall which were painted a dark navy blue. Jordan was glad to see that there was at least a full sized bed in the room rather than a twin. Even though they were used to a queen at home, this would be better than a bed made for one. In the corner there was something that Jordan was sure hadn't been in the room when Woody was last here.

His mother pointed out the crib and told them it had been the one she used for all five of her children. It had been brought down from the attic, cleaned, and new bedding put on it so it was ready for their visit. Telling them to settle in and that dinner would be ready in thirty minutes. Evelyn shooed her protesting daughters out of the room and left the visitors alone for a short time. While Woody unpacked some of their things, Jordan nursed Riley. The time passed quickly and they went downstairs for dinner.

Their time at the farm was unlike anything Jordan had experienced before and at the same time it was everything she had expected. The food was good and plentiful, the air was fresher than any she had smelled in the city even if it was, at times when the wind was just right, a little too fresh. The days were long and hot. They started much to early because of that dang-blasted rooster and ended early because everyone was tired from the fresh air and hard work.

Yes, Evelyn put them to work even though it was supposed to be a vacation for them. Jordan learned to feed the many and varied animals, as well as to gather the eggs from the hen house. Even though the chickens scared her, she refused to admit it. Woody easily stepped back into his old chore list, telling Jordan at night when they lay exhausted in their bed, that even though it was hard work, it felt like a vacation to do good honest wholesome work than solving so many violent crimes in the city. He didn't want Jordan to think that he didn't love his job, because he did, but there were times when it got him down.

Jordan smiled and said she understood. She was asleep before she could form another thought. Four wonderfully peaceful days had gone by before there was any indication that Palmer knew where they were.

To be continued…


	64. Chapter 64

Chapter 64

The fourth day they got a Polaroid in the mail of Marla and Teresa along with Riley in a stroller shopping in the grocery store. The picture had been taken the day after they arrived, there was no note, but the message was clear…Palmer was here!

Woody's sisters had to be brought into the secret when out of the blue, all plans to take Riley off of the farm were suddenly being vetoed. He was amazed at how his sisters easily accepted the truth of Riley's conception and how instead of accusations or interrogations, they immediately jumped to anger at this threat to their nephew and new sister-in-law. All of them wanted to help catch this tormentor and see him brought to justice if they couldn't be there to inflict a beating on him themselves.

Jordan was brought to tears at Woody's sisters' easy and loving acceptance of the truth. She thanked them heartily with hugs. Woody couldn't help but notice that since Riley's birth Jordan had become a lot freer with hugs and other demonstrations of affections.

So with the new protection protocols in place for Jordan and Riley, the four girls simply spent more time at the farm. While one or two of Woody's sisters were playing and caring for the baby, the rest would be with Jordan doing whatever she was, so they could talk to her and get to know her better. Jordan was secretly glad she was nursing her son. It was about the only time she got to hold him! She was sure that if Riley had been bottle fed the four girls would have taken over that baby chore too!

Having Kim, Marla, Daphne, and Teresa there at meal time became the norm. They were always there for dinner, most of the time at lunch, and occasionally one or more of them would stay the night so they were there at breakfast too.

Because of the insular nature of the farm no stranger could be there without someone noticing. There were no more threats while they were there.

Knowing that Palmer had even been able to get close to them in Wisconsin had Jordan mildly freaked. Before their trip home she wanted to make sure Riley was as protected as possible. She didn't want him in a carrier that could be grabbed out of their hands in a crowded airport. Instead she decided to use the gift that Marla had sent with Evelyn when she had come to Boston to help when Riley was born. It was a baby snuggly, that was basically a backpack for the baby that a parent could wear either on their back on front.

Jordan planned to have Riley strapped to her chest where she would also be able to keep her arms around him. Woody was in full agreement with her on this and said he would handle Riley's diaper bag and the single carry on for the two of them. His sisters insisted on handling the luggage so they would have the minimum amount of moving around in the airport as possible.

Parting at the gate became a very emotional scene. There were tears all around, even Riley was crying, sensing the stress and sadness of those around him. Woody's mother and all of his sisters promised to visit Boston as often as they were able. Jordan was glad her husband insisted on no surprise visits! Everyone had to call and make sure it was alright to come to town.

Finally they were on the plane heading home. Jordan sighed because although she'd had a wonderful time at the farm, it was good to be going home. However, being home meant that she would soon be going back to work, leaving Riley in daycare. It was with mixed feelings she thought about Monday.

Jordan had honestly not expected to bond with this child as she had and now it was going to be very hard not to be with him during the day.

She was also afraid to let him out of her sight because the Palmer threat had still not been resolved. Lily and Garrett had met their flight so once again they could be out of the crowded situation as quickly as possible. On the ride back to their apartment Jordan mentioned her fears to their friends. She saw Lily give Garret a 'can't you do something about this?' look and with great reluctance he asked, "If I remember right, all they do at this age is eat and sleep?"

To be continued…


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Jordan quickly confirmed this, hoping it was going somewhere promising. She was not disappointed! Garrett's next comment earned him a place in her heart for all time. "Well if you promise to keep him out of my hair, you could bring him to the office until this guy is caught."

While Jordan was doing mental cartwheels that Riley would be able to stay close to her she was still able to wonder why Lily was giggling like mad. She threw her friend an inquiring look and was startled when Lily reached out and rubbed Garrett's head. "Keep him out of his hair! Easy to do when he is bald!"

That set everyone off laughing. Garrett even joined in after a minute. They arrived back at the apartment and got everything safely inside. Lily and Garrett only stayed a short time knowing that the other three were tired from their flight as well as the stress of having Clark Palmer in their lives.

After good-byes were said to Lily and Garrett, Woody checked the answering machine for messages while Jordan gave Riley a quick bath and then put him to bed. He was surprised by message from Colonel Sarah Mackenzie, saying that since the date of Magnolia Orly's death fell on this coming Saturday and she would not have to take off work to be in Boston, she planned to help Woody stake out her grave to see if her son showed up as long as that was something he still wanted to do.

With everything that had been going on with Palmer as well as their trip to Wisconsin, he had forgotten that the date was so close. He wrote down her cell phone number and tucked it into is phone case. It was too late to call her then, but he would do so tomorrow.

Sunday they settled back into life at home. It was a peaceful day except for the argument they had over who would do they grocery shopping. The fridge was bare and they badly needed to restock. Woody believed he should go because of the ongoing threat to their lives. Jordan countered with the logic that if Palmer had wanted to kill any of them he had made it more than clear he'd had the opportunity. So his desire had to be just to mess with their minds or to kidnap Riley and since she planned to go alone, leaving Riley home with Woody, nothing would happen.

Woody sighed and had to agree that her logic was true, so it should be safe for her to go even though he felt that he had to add that he would have felt better is she would let him go. Jordan smiled and kissed his cheek. His concern for her was touching. She left a short time later armed with her purse and a very long list of necessities.

While Jordan was at the store Woody called Colonel Mackenzie to tell her that he did want to keep a watch out for Clematis Orly, and offered to pick her up at the airport if she needed it. Mac told him that the only flight she could get after work on Friday would put her in very late. She would meet him at the cemetery at 4am with coffee and donuts.

Arriving home from the store with her arms full of groceries, Jordan was heading for the elevator when she heard her name called. Looking towards the voice, she saw Mrs. Crowley, their neighbor from the apartment across the hall from theirs, standing near the mail cubbies.

"My dear, you have a package here. I saw it while I was picking up my newspaper," the elderly lady told her.

"Thank you, Mrs. Crowley. I will get it on my second trip to the car, I have more groceries out there."

Mrs. Crowley joined Jordan in the elevator saying, "I know I am a bit long in the tooth, my dear, and I know you young people are all liberated and such, but in my day a man did that kind of thing when his wife had just had a baby!"

Jordan smiled and said she would let Woody get the second load. That had been her intention all along that was until Mrs. Crowley had mentioned the package. They weren't expecting anything, especially right after two weeks in Wisconsin, so the only person it could be from was Palmer. She didn't want Woody any more over protective than he already was, so she dropped the bags on the counter when she got into the apartment, asking him to unpack them and was out the door again before he had a chance to say anything.

She wanted a chance to see what was in the package before Woody saw it. Anger filled her as she opened the note laying on top of a black lace negligee in the box addressed to her. Palmer had written; "Since it has been six weeks since our son was born, I am guessing you will be able to resume the activity that we enjoyed so much. I hope this gift spices up your night."

To be continued…


	66. Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Seeing red, she stomped over to the trash bin and threw it all away. She was completely aware of the six week limitation being up and had been planning to surprise Woody that evening by seducing his socks off! There was no way she wanted her plan ruined be this sadistic gift from Palmer!

Getting the rest of the groceries, she returned to the apartment and helped Woody put things away without saying a word about the package.

Jordan was glad she had found the package early enough in the day that she had hours to calm down before her planned seduction. If they had been closer together, she wasn't sure it would have been enough time to get the mood back.

As it was, she left Woody reading the paper while she told him she was going to get Riley ready for bed. She did that very quickly, and then grabbed a super fast shower for herself. She walked into the living room in a red satin baby doll nightie with a totally transparent robe over it and scarlet pumps with five inch heels.

Softly calling Woody's name, she waited for him to look up. When he did, she instantly had his _full_ attention. He sat there in stunned silence, his paper hitting the floor as she ever so slowly walked towards him. Her seductive smile as well as the outfit she was wearing left him in no doubt what was on her mind, and now it was all he could think of as well!

His one question showed that no matter how eager he was for what she was offering, he still put her wellbeing first, "Jordan, are you sure that this is okay?"

"I am very sure! The only question now is, can we wait to go to the bedroom, or is here quite fine?"

"I will have you know that I am a proper mid-western gentleman and think I might just be able to wait until I get you into the bedroom," Woody told her as he rose from his chair, swept her up into his arms, and carried her into the bedroom.

She barely had time to throw her arms around his neck to hang on before he was putting her on her feet once again. Jordan stood there as Woody tenderly and lovingly undressed her. Then he tore his own clothing off so fast she was sure some of it would need repairs.

The night went about as perfectly as Jordan could have hoped. There was only a moment or two when stray thought of Palmer slipped in, but they were banished as quickly as they came. As she had expected, Woody was a gentle and caring lover. He put her needs before his own and almost brought her to tears a couple of times with his sweetness.

They slept for a time after making love, but woke again in the middle of the night to come together once again. Even though they hadn't had much sleep during the night both of them woke refreshed and smiling when Riley's morning wake-up call came.

Woody made breakfast while Jordan changed and fed Riley and then got his things ready for their first day at work together.

That morning what Garrett had feared, when he'd made the offer to let Jordan bring the baby in to work, was actually worse than he had thought it would be. His fear had only been that Lily would be so focused on the baby in the office that her work would suffer. What he hadn't thought about was that everyone else on the floor would react the same way.

Garrett was alerted to the arrival of Jordan and the trouble-maker by the "oh's", "ah's", and cooing that could be heard in the foyer. He figured he would find the two receptionists and Lily gathered around the infant. What he hadn't even considered was that Bug and Nigel would be there too! In fact, Nigel was the one freeing Riley from the stroller to lift him into his arms and start baby talking to him in a thicker than usual British accent.

To be continued…


	67. Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Raising one eyebrow at the group gathered around Riley and Jordan gained him the reaction he desired from four of the crowd. Nigel quickly passed the baby back to Lily, who had been holding out her arms for him. He, Bug, as well as the two receptionists scurried back to their work. Lily, who had been living with Garrett for several months now, simply ignored him, while Jordan just looked on helplessly, since her child was being held hostage in Lily's loving arms.

As Garrett just stood there waiting for the two of them to obey his unspoken command, Jordan held out her arms for Riley, "Lily, I really should get him settled in my office so I can get to Autopsy."

"You go ahead," she shooed Jordan off. "I don't have my first appointment until ten, so I can get him settled for you."

Seeing Garrett roll his eyes, Jordan decided that discretion was the better part of valor and said, "Okay then!" before escaping down the hall.

Believing that he had his troops under control, because they rarely defied the evil eye he had given them, Garrett was annoyed when every time he went looking for one of the staff that wasn't where they should have been, he found them in Jordan's office playing with the baby. By lunch time he'd had enough of this behavior and told Jordan to move Riley into his office, defying any of them to sneak in to see the baby.

However, Garrett's office was in the middle of the floor and had windows on both sides. The staff could not help but glance in every time they went by. A little after 1pm, a group began to gather at the east side window. Garrett had his back to that area so wasn't aware that the group turned into a crowd as the ones there quietly called to the other to come and witness the event.

Spotting everyone looking into Garrett's office when she came out of Autopsy, Jordan at first thought the worst! That something had happened to Riley! But, as she approached and saw the grins on their faces and a few were even giggling quietly behind their hands. She looked into the window to figure out what was going on.

Unable to hide a wide grin, she pushed open his office door, since she was allowed to go in to feed her son. She cheerfully told Garrett, "You know you have quite an audience here behind you?"

Garrett spun around, saw the staff, and realized he had been caught red handed! Riley had started to fuss and Garrett had picked him up to soothe him. That was how he came to be caught playing with the baby. Without a leg to stand on, he still tried to bluff it out by handing Jordan the baby and stepping out of the office to shoo the others back to work.

They went…but each of them had a knowing grin on their faces as the walked away.

Jordan had always known that she worked with an extremely fun loving group of people. However, she did not include Garrett as one of them. Oh sure, he might laugh at a joke told in the break room every now and then, but 'fun loving' was not a title anyone would apply to him. And when the joke was on him, which was never clearer.

Tuesday morning, Jordan was in Garrett's office switching Riley from his stroller to the portable crib she'd brought for him when Garrett was opening a package left on his desk. She had turned back to the baby to give him his pacifier when she heard Garrett grumble. Turning around, she saw he was holding up a white T-shirt. Curious as to why it had gotten such a reaction, Jordan asked him what it said. She figured no one would just give a plain white T-shirt as a gift, so it had to say something.

Garrett reluctantly turned the front of the shirt to her and Jordan lost it! She nearly doubled over with laughter as Garrett looked on with a frown.

To be continued…


	68. Chapter 68

Chapter 68

The shirt said, in bold black letters, "I was NOT playing with the baby!"

When it was clear that Jordan's laughter was going to continue for some time, Garrett told her, "You can leave now."

She barely managed to get out, "Yes, boss," and leave the office before she was once again overcome with laughter. Heading to the break room because she figured that the culprits would be waiting there for her report, she discovered she was right. Lily, Bug, and Nigel were all there eagerly wanting all the details of Garrett's reaction.

During the day Garrett got asked several times if he was wearing his new shirt. Until at one point he threatened to fire the next person that asked. The questions stopped, but not the snickers from those in the know.

Jordan and Riley had been home that evening for a little more than an hour before Woody got there. She had picked up the mail and checked for any packages. Happily there was nothing from Palmer in either. However, that was not the case when Woody, out of habit, checked when he got home.

Unlike his wife had on Sunday, Woody brought the package with no return address into the apartment and called out for Jordan as he came through the door. The box was addressed to her, so Woody handed it to her when she came out of the kitchen. With a glare at the box and a resigned sigh at Woody, she grabbed a pair of scissors and cut through the packing tape. Inside the box was a slinky silver satin nightgown with an envelope on top of it.

After looking at the Polaroid of Woody whistling as he left the apartment building heading for his car on Monday morning, Jordan passed it to her husband as she opened the note that had come with it. It read, "Clearly my previous gift worked! Here is another to help you keep the smile on his face!" and was signed simply, "CP".

Jordan crumpled the note in her fist and threw it back into the box. She was stomping across the room when Woody read the note and on her way back when he looked up at her with a question in his eyes.

"Yeah, I threw out the 'gift' he sent on Sunday! I didn't want it to spoil our special night!" she pleaded for understanding.

Taking her into his arms, Woody said, "Jordan, I love you and nothing can change that! Nothing Palmer does will ever spoil anything between you and I! Okay?!"

Never more thankful for Woody's gentle understanding and love, she nodded and raised her head for a kiss.

The next morning, Garret found a rattle in a package addressed to him on his desk. Minutes after that happened young Master Hoyt was back in his mother's office with instructions from her boss not to make him regret the move. She had let Garrett know they had gotten another message from Palmer the night before. Even though everyone wanted to know what he creep had said this time, Jordan, refused to tell them what the latest taunt had been.

Jordan didn't want anyone to know how 'personal' Palmer's messages had become. Not even Lily could get her friend to reveal what had been in the note or package. Lily was hurt by this, but Jordan just felt that the latest contacts had become too private to share with her co-workers.

The next couple of days nothing was heard from Palmer and Jordan was very glad. But for some reason she felt like she should be braced for the weekend. Maybe it was just that on Saturday Woody would be off all day with Colonel Mackenzie, leaving her home alone with Riley, but she just had a feeling something big was going to happen.

That feeling multiplied one hundred fold when Nigel came back to the morgue on Friday after his regular weekly visit with Clara Rose. He was out of breath from rushing into the building. As soon as he spotted Jordan he grabbed her by the arm and insisted that they go to her office…no, not there because Riley was there now, maybe to the lab instead! Once there he pushed her on to a stool, telling her she had better be sitting down for what he had to tell her!

To be continued…


	69. Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Nigel took a long gasping breath and blurted out, "Clara told me to warn you that the clematis are not what it seems!"

"Nig, what is that supposed to mean?! Surely she had to have said more than that!"

"Oh come on Jordan! It's Clara Rose! OF COURSE she said more than that! I was there 45 minutes and you know the woman never stops talking!"

When Nigel paused to take a breath Jordan jumped in with, "But what else did she say about this?! You know that is all that matters to me!"

"Jordie, honestly that was all she said about you. The rest was just stuff about me and Bug. We've been having some issues…" At her raised eyebrows, he stopped what he was going to say and then added, "I'm sorry. I know that's not what you want to hear right now."

"Right, not now on that Nig, but later, okay?!" When he gave her a half smile and nod, she went on, "Can you tell me what her exact words were?"

"Do you want that with or without all of the TV and movie references she made?"

Jordan sighed, remembering Clara's ramblings, "Much as I might regret it, I guess 'with', because something in them might actually prove useful this time."

He thought a moment and then reported, "As I was about to walk out the door she put her hand on my arm and with a very far away look on her face she said, 'Tell that dear sweet Jordan of yours, that the…I know this is going to sound like something right out of that show Twin Peeks but…you know they canceled that way too soon…it was such a good show…anyway the clematis is not what it seems…' then another customer came in and she told me she would see me next week as she took him to the backroom for his reading."

Shaking her head from side to side, she tried to sort out any actually relevant information from Clara's babble, while Nigel escaped before she could grill him anymore.

Within the hour everyone in the office had heard the story about Clara Rose's warning. They all wanted to pitch in and help try to figure out the encrypted meaning. However, every time one of them came into Jordan's office to offer their latest thought on what it could mean, they either barged in on her nursing Riley or woke him up.

Jordan was getting frustrated by this and the fact that not one of them had anything truly constructive to offer. Finally she locked her office door after putting a 'Do Not Disturb' post-it note on the glass. She knew the only hope she had of getting any real answers was to go and see the physic herself. So, she hid out until 5pm and then with Riley already strapped in his stroller, she made a be-line for the elevator.

Lily spotted her and called out her name, but Jordan just kept moving. She figured if she survived the weekend, then she could apologize to her friend on Monday.

Not bothering with the hassle of the stroller when she got to Clara's shop, Jordan walked in with her son in her arms. The shop was empty of any other customers so Clara eagerly looked up to see who had entered, "Oh my dear, I knew you would stop by to see me…and you have brought your little one with the no account daddy…are you ready to have his star chart done…not the 'no account daddy' of course, but your dear sweet little one…you know it is better to be aware of any warning signs of trouble in his life…I mean, I am sure you and that dear sweet Detective Hoyt will do your best for him, but after all he does have a scallywag for a father…now why don't you take him right back to my reading room while I put out the 'closed' sign…this might take a while you know…"

"Ms Rose!" Jordan finally jumped in.

To be continued…


	70. Chapter 70

Chapter 70

"Yes my dear?"

"Riley's star chart is not why I am here!"

"Oh…I would have thought that was something you would want to do as early as possible…I mean he is already several weeks old you know…"

Jordan again interrupted her, "Yes, I know how old my son is! But I don't care about…I mean…if I get his chart done as soon as we deal with this other issue, could we please focus on that first?!"

"Well, I really think that you should do it now my dear…after all he isn't getting any younger you know…but if you have something else that you believe is more important…then perhaps we should look into that…why don't we go upstairs to my apartment and you can tell me all about it as we sit down over a cup of tea…"

"Ms Rose…" Jordan tried to keep herself from shouting at the woman by reminding herself that she had Riley in her arms. "I really don't have time for tea today, maybe when I come back to have Riley's chart done. What I needed from you today was more information on what you told my friend Nigel today at lunch. You told him something about clematis? I had to go and look it up on the internet because I didn't even know what it was. Why would you be sending me a message about a flower?"

"A flower?" Clara asked, looking totally perplexed.

"Clematis! The flower you told Nigel wasn't what it seemed!" exclaimed Jordan.

"Oh…was that why you came in…I thought if you weren't here to have the baby's chart done you might have wanted more information on that awful man that was the one that was pretending to be that handsome Navy Commander…you know neither one of them was a good choice for a father for your baby…now on the other hand that Navy Admiral…Whoa!...he would have been my choice!...what a hunk he was…too bad he was engaged to that no good woman…although I did predict that the engagement wouldn't last…I wonder if he is free yet…I might try and contact…"

"Ms Rose!"

"Oh I am sorry my dear…I do have the teeniest habit of rambling on…now what was it you wanted to know?...oh yes about that flower that is not what it should be…well I was not quite sure what that meant either but I got the message from my other side contact…well I guess after all these years I could call him a friend instead of just a contact…but believe you me that if he were still here I would be calling him much more than a friend…"

"Ms Roooose!" Jordan stretched out the woman's name in frustration.

"Oh yes…I am sorry once again…let's go to my reading room and I will consult the cars to see if we can find out any more." Clara toddled off to the tiny curtained alcove that she called her 'reading room' and Jordan had no choice but to follow her.

Forty five minutes later Jordan left the shop with a bunch of nonsense from the card reading filling her head. She had told Clara that she wanted to know about the flower warning she had given Nigel, but as she was shuffling the tarot cards all she could think about was what the future would hold for her family. As a result, the answers she got from the card were happiness, some minor ups and downs, and something about a princess of hearts entering their lives. She had finished putting Riley into his car seat and was about to turn the key in the ignition, when it hit her what that last part meant.

Jordan's hand went to her belly and she wondered if she was already expecting Woody's daughter, or if the message had just been something that would happen some time in the future. As conflicted as she was about the idea of having another baby so soon, Jordan still had no more information about Saturday and Palmer than she'd had when she'd gone into the shop.

Now the question was what, or how much of this news should she tell Woody? When she walked into the house she saw her husband packing a cooler with sandwiches. She raised her eyebrow at the amount and Woody protested, "You have to remember how that Marine eats! I even bought an extra thermos of coffee for the stakeout with Colonel Mackenzie. She loves her coffee!"

To be continued…


	71. Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Jordan smiled indulgently and went to the nursery to feed Riley. She was still trying to figure out what to tell Woody. The news about the baby, or rather the idea that they might be having another one soon, or the more obscure information about the stupid flower she had told Nigel about! As she nursed her son, her mind and body relaxed as Jordan let the joy of holding her child so close and sharing this bond that could only be felt between mother and child. The peace that flowed into her allowed her mind to clear and she remembered how hurt Woody had been when she hadn't told him about that first nightgown gift from Palmer. She had promised herself then that she wouldn't keep things from him anymore and here she was ready to do it again!

Maybe she could justify it to herself by all the years she had been on her own and having to rely only on herself before Woody came into her life. But how long was she going to use that excuse? It was already wearing very thin on Woody's end and by now it should be on hers too! They were a team now. A family, and even though her family hadn't been big on relying on each other, she knew that was the way they were supposed to work.

That was why, once Riley was in his crib asleep, she headed into the other room to talk to Woody about what Clara Rose had to say. She was about to announce that Clara had predicted that she and Woody would have a daughter sometime soon but she was stalled when Woody looked up from his packing and said, "You know Colonel Mackenzie will have wasted a trip and I will have wasted a day off on this stake out if Clematis Orly doesn't show up tomorrow."

Shocked at the sudden connection to the nonsense that Clara had been babbling about, Jordan blurted out Clematis Orly?!"

"Yeah, awful name to saddle a kid with, don't you think?!" Woody grinned at her.

"But Woody, I was just about to come and tell you about my visit with Clara Rose and her old message!"

"Clara Rose? Why in the world would you go and see that whacky woman?!"

"Well, she had given Nigel this cryptic message for me, so after I got off work I went by to see her and find out any more, but instead of that, she told me that we are going to have a daughter soon!"

"What?! When?! Jordan are you pregnant?!" Woody demanded as he crossed the room to her and put his hand on her flat tummy.

"I don't know! In fact I don't know if she meant that I was already pregnant or that I would be soon."

"Why didn't you ask her?!"

"Because I was already back out to the car when I realized what 'a princess of hearts will enter you lives soon' meant!" she told him.

"That is amazing. I hope that it happens, but a year from now would be just fine too. You need to recover a bit before we have another."

"Yeah, a year from now would be okay," Jordan agreed.

"So now tell me what the other part of the message was."

"Oh yeah I almost forgot. I guess she rambled on to Nigel about the show Twin Peeks and then she told him to tell me, 'the clematis is not what it seems'. Does that have any meaning to what you and Colonel Mackenzie are doing tomorrow?"

"I haven't a clue. You say Ms Rose didn't give you anything else to go on?"

"No unfortunately."

"I doubt it means much, knowing Clara Rose and the way her oddball mind works. But I will tell her, and we will be on the look out for anything strange."

"Could this have anything to do with Palmer?"

"I don't see how. Mac and I are just trying to get some closure on this double case we were working on. To see if the kid shows up at his mother's grave so we can talk to him."

"Wouldn't that 'kid' be an adult by now?"

To be continued…


	72. Chapter 72

Chapter 72

"Yes, but I still don't see any danger in that fact," Woody explained.

"Alright, I guess," Jordan sighed. "Just as long as the two of them are careful like you promised.

Even though Riley had been sleeping through the night for several weeks now, Woody still checked in on him as he got ready to leave the house to meet Mac before the sun was up. He arrived at the cemetery to find that Mac had brought coffee in those Styrofoam cups along with the donuts. Because the coffee he had brought in the thermoses would stay hot longer, they drank what she had brought first.

The two of them chatted and caught up on the news in their lives while they waited. When Woody was running out of things to tell her, he laughingly told the story about Clara Rose predicting that he and Jordan would have a daughter soon!

Mac grinned at him and after congratulating him, told of her own run in with a physic, then added how what he'd seen had come true and that she'd had a couple of visions of her own.

Woody shook his head telling her how whacky Clara was, but that she had given useful information to the police on several occasions. That was when he told Mac about the 'clematis was not what it seems' reference.

"Oh gosh, I loved the show Twin Peeks! That is where that line comes from…'the owls are not what they seem'!" Mac told him with a giggle.

"I think Clara mentioned Twin Peeks as well," Woody sighed.

"Really?! I think I'd like to meet this whacky lady!"

"Commander Rabb and Admiral Chegwidden both did while they were in town. I believe she even kissed the Commander. Didn't they mention that when they got back to Falls Church?"

"They did not," Mac grumped. I will get on them about that when I get home," she sighed.

With a smile, Woody smiled, "Do you have the time? I couldn't find my watch in the dark and didn't want to turn on the light and wake Jordan to find it."

Without looking away from him, she replied, "10:31."

"How in the world do you know that without looking?!"

"I don't know, it's just something I've always been able to do. Why do you ask?"

"I was trying to figure out when he might show up. Wasn't his mother shot about this time of day?"

Mac mentally went over the report and then answered, "Yes, it was 10:43am."

"I was just thinking that if he was wanting to remember her at the time of her death…"

"Woody, someone's coming," Mac interrupted told him.

Turning to look in the direction she had indicated, he did see a tall man approaching with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. Woody recognized them from the ones the Petunia had ham purchase for Magnolia's birthday and put on her grave. He was just about to remind Mac of that when she gasped.

"My GOD!" she exclaimed.

"What?!"

"Look at his face Woody!" she demanded.

"My god!" he paused a moment and then the two of them said in unison, "It's Palmer!"

To be continued…


	73. Chapter 73

Chapter 73

They were sitting on the closest bench to Maggie's grave that the cemetery had provided, but the bench was four or five graves away from hers so they didn't look like they were actually there visiting Maggie's grave. As if they had planned it in advance, both Woody and Mac lowered their heads to hide their faces allowing Palmer to get closer without suspecting anything.

They gave him a moment to place the flowers and lower his head before quietly getting up and casually starting to walk behind him as if going to the parking lot.

Since they had only been there hoping to talk to Clematis Orly, neither one of them had any reason to be armed. They were standing right behind him when Woody growled, "You're finished, Palmer!"

He was startled at hearing that name here in the one place he truly felt like Clem Orly, but Palmer was still a well trained fighting machine. It took him only a moment to mentally shift gears and once again became Clark Palmer.

Adopting a fighting stance he spun around and went for Woody first. Woody was ready for him and easily blocked Palmer's first punch. Mac stood there letting the two men fight knowing that no matter what Palmer had done to her partner, Harm, and her part of the world in general, that the threat to Woody and his family was one that this Boston detective needed to deal with on his own. She was there and ready to step in if need be, but Woody had the right to be the one to bring Palmer down here on his own turf.

Woody's punch landed squarely on Palmer's jaw, but it was nothing he had not experienced before and he shook it off easily. They exchanged blows for several rounds and Mac found herself actually being surprised that Woody was able to hold his own against a man like Palmer. During the exchange of blows Woody delivered another hard punch to Palmer's face and then had to raise his left arm to block an oncoming swing. This unfortunately left him open to Palmer's other hand.

A karate chop was aimed to Woody's throat, but he managed to turn his head in time for it to land on the side of his neck rather than head on. However, the force of the blow still stunned him. Woody stumbled back and tripped over an uneven patch of ground. Mac saw him falling, but was too far away to keep him from hitting his head on a gravestone on his way down. So instead, to keep Palmer off of her friend, she threw a couple of punches to his kidneys and followed up with a round house kick that swept his legs out from under him. Palmer rolled to his feet and faced his new opponent, the fight was on again.

As a Marine, her kickboxing fighting style was a bit different from both that of a man with Palmer's training and that of a cop. Some might think that because she was a lawyer and a woman that her combat skills were rusty or less than they should have been. But Mac kept herself physically fit and up on all of her Marine training. She had actually seen quite a bit more action than one would expect for a lawyer.

Holding her own for some time, allowed Woody to shake off the impact to his head and start back towards the two combatants now rolling on the ground. Palmer saw Woody coming out of the corner of his eye. Although Mac was on top of him at that moment he managed to flip her onto her back with the force of his powerful legs while his hand reached out and grabbed for one of the vases that was held in the ground with a stake at the bottom. Yanking it out of the ground, he held it in both hands as he drove it into Mac's chest.

To be continued…


	74. Chapter 74

Chapter 74

The color drained from Woody's face as he witnessed Palmer's action. He was racing to the spot as Palmer jumped to his feet and ran toward the parking lot. He gave the fleeing man one hateful glance as he escaped.

He fell to his knees next to Mac. Pulling out his cell phone he called 911 as he assessed the damage to the woman on the ground in front of him. He gave the 911 operator curt clear information on the situation and their location.

She was barely conscious as he spoke to her, "I know this has to hurt like hell Mac, but I can't pull it out without causing more damage!" Woody tore off his shirt and was packing it around the stake through her chest to try and keep her from bleeding to death before the paramedics got there. She nodded acknowledging that she understood before passing out.

Praying that help would arrive in time he picked up his phone again, almost dropping it from the slipperiness of Mac's blood covering it. Hitting his speed dial number for home, he counted the seconds that seemed to be dragging by until Jordan came on the line.

He spoke quickly and a bit harshly after her 'hello', "Jordan, it was Palmer at the cemetery. He stabbed Mac and got away. I am sure he is on his way there. I can't leave Mac till help arrives or she will die. So, get out my gun and be ready for him."

"Woody, you know how I feel about…" his wife started to protest.

Almost snarling in his combined fear for his family's safety and Mac's life as well as the frustration of letting Palmer get away from him because he had to remain to keep Mac alive, Woody growled, "Get the gun and don't let Palmer hurt you or Riley!"

He didn't know if she tried to protest again because he'd ended the call. Woody was glad to finally be able to hear the sirens in the distance that meant help was getting closer.

Even though she was still unconscious Woody pleaded, "Hang on Mac, help is on the way! Please hand on help is coming!"

He was more than glad to fall back out of the way as the paramedics arrived to take over. Once he had given them the information he could about Mac, Woody scrambled to his feet and started towards his car.

One of the paramedics shouted to him, "Aren't you going to the hospital with her?!"

"The guy who did this to her is after my wife and child now!"

Jordan stood there staring at the phone in her hand, upset that Woody had hung up on her, as her mind spun with the incomprehensible news he had just delivered.

Palmer at the cemetery…okay, sure he had been stalking them for months. But, why show up there? Choose a cemetery for a confrontation? A confrontation with only Woody and not her and the baby…well yes, Mac had been there too, but she wasn't his target. But wait! There was Clara Rose's weird message that 'clematis was not what it seemed'. Could that somehow have been a warning about Palmer? It just didn't make any sense!

Mac stabbed…but how?! Mac was a Marine and there had been two against one if a fight had happened with Palmer, and it had to have had if Mac were so badly hurt! Woody hadn't said he'd been hurt, but he also hadn't sounded like himself when he called. He was never that brusque with her! It just didn't make any sense.

Get his gun…Woody knew how she felt about guns! The fact that he kept his service revolver in the apartment had been a bone of contention between them. She insisted that it was too dangerous with Riley in the apartment. Woody countered that as a baby Riley wouldn't even know it was there and not even what it was for years. However, Woody did get a gun safe and the offending weapon was always put away in there as soon as he came home from work each night. But now he wanted her to get it out and possibly use it! Just that thought terrified her.

Jordan paced back and forth across the living room several times trying to clear her mind enough to form a plan. She heard Riley fuss from the nursery and raced to him as if Palmer could have gotten past her and into the baby's room. She lifted him out of his crib, as she tried to sooth him, but she was so agitated herself that rather than quieting him, her stress was making him fuss more.

Then it dawned on her that she had to protect Riley from Palmer! She was it! She had to protect her child!

To be continued…


	75. Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Frantically looking around the room for a place to hide Riley, she hoped that once she put him down he would settle. The only place she could see was the closet. Gently putting him on the floor, Jordan inserted his pacifier in his mouth and closed the louvered doors.

She strode through the apartment to their bedroom that had been Woody's and was now shared by both of them. The gun safe was in the back of the walk in closet and she stood in front of it for a moment before taking a deep breath and punching in the first letter of each of Woody's sister's names in the order they were born, as the code to open it.

She looked at gun with trepidation before picking it up as if was one of Riley's most toxic dirty diapers. Standing there with the gun in her hand, her thoughts went briefly to her father. Wishing he was there to handle this for her, but also glad he had taught her enough about how to shoot so she could if she had to. With a gulping breath she went into the living room to wait for Palmer.

It seemed like hours, it could have been only seconds, but suddenly the front door of the apartment was kicked in. She was at last face to face with the man who had malevolently invaded her life, deceived her, and ran, the real Clark Palmer, wearing the face she had only seen on him in pictures.

Jordan had just the briefest of moments in the back of her mind to be glad that Riley, once out of her over stressed presence, had settled down and was quiet.

Palmer might have been expecting her to have been warned he was on the way, but the woman he had lived with and knew well, hated guns, he actually showed the briefest flash of surprise on his face when he saw Jordan with a gun pointed at him. "You wouldn't shoot the father of your child," he asserted brazenly, and stepped into the apartment.

She hated violence. She hated guns. But, she hated the man in front of her more. Closing her eyes she squeezed off a shot as she said, "To keep you away from Riley, I would!"

Jordan had meant to shoot him through the heart, to kill him outright and put her family out of misery. But when she heard him grunt instead of just fall to the floor, her eyes sprang open in time to see he had dodged her shot enough that it had only hit him in the shoulder. He was pulling out his own gun.

Two shots rang out in quick succession. Jordan's, being the second one, hit the door jam behind Palmer, just after his shot hit her in the abdomen.

He stepped over Jordan's body and walked into the nursery. His eyes did a quick sweep of the room and didn't spot the baby. But, the whimpering cries from the closet alerted him to Riley's hiding place.

Palmer had to holster his gun because of the shoulder wound before he could scoop up the small bundle as if it were a football. Passing by Jordan once again, she heard him say as she passed out, "I hate that name you gave him…"

Even though he hadn't been armed, Woody still had his car at the cemetery. It was equipped with a siren and light which made his race home much safer. Along the way he heard a report of 'shots fired' followed by his home address. This pushed his foot down on the accelerator even harder.

The car was barely in park before Woody had the door open and one foot on the pavement. Palmer was just pulling away from the front of the building as a new report came over the radio that there was a female gunshot victim and missing baby. Woody's heart sank. He had one split second to choose to run into the building and find Jordan, or to follow Palmer.

In the next heartbeat one thought became crystal clear in his mind, 'Jordan would kill me if I let Palmer get away with Riley!' He was back in the car in a flash, but Palmer's vehicle was already out of sight down the block.

To be continued…


	76. Chapter 76

Chapter 76

As the stretcher raced through the doors to the hospital, they were met with the doctors and nurses of the trauma team ready to take over Mac's care. Her personal belongings were handed off to a young intern who began the search for past medical history as well as her emergency contact person was, even as the treatment of her injury began.

The intern was glad to find out that Mac was active military. The card in her wallet gave her identification number which made calling up her medical history on the computer so much easier, even if she was from out of state. After making sure that information was placed at her doctor's disposal, the intern next placed a call to Virginia to Colonel Sarah Mackenzie's emergency contact.

Looking at the name on the card as he dialed, he muttered, "Must be nice to have such high powered friends!"

When the call was answered, he asked, "Admiral AJ Chegwidden?"

AJ had been all set to plant a new rose bed on the side of his house when his cell phone rang. With a sigh he figured he could always do it tomorrow. He should be used to calls like this by now. However, he usually didn't have to correct the pronunciation of his name.

The voice on the other end of the phone identified himself as Dr. Barton from Boston Memorial hospital and went on to say that they had Colonel Sarah Mackenzie there. "You are listed as her emergency contact, Sir and we will need your verbal authorization to take her into surgery. We can fax you the written paperwork that we need if you can give me a number where to send it."

AJ automatically authorized the surgery, and gave his fax number. As a military man he was trained to take care of business first and deal with personal issues later. When that was taken care of, AJ started grilling the young doctor as to what had happened.

Knowing that ringing voice of authority well, he answered, "All I know is that she has been stabbed in the chest. It didn't look good when they wheeled her by me, but I heard the doctor ordering extra blood and X-rays before they were taking her to surgery. They wouldn't have done that if they thought she didn't have a chance."

"Thank you, Doctor. I will get those papers back to you as soon as I get them and could you please keep me updated on her condition?" AJ was very glad that Bud had helped him set up a printer, scanner, fax machine in the den last summer, so he didn't have the long drive to the office to return the medical forms.

Even though it wasn't his place to do so, young Dr. Barton had been treated with respect on the call by an Admiral, so he agreed to report Mac's condition to him.

Frustration at being so far away and unable to do any more for Mac from this distance, AJ decided to see if he might be able to get more information from someone who could actually go to the hospital. He placed a call to his ex-fiancée's niece, Jordan Cavanaugh-Hoyt.

He was shocked when the call was answered, "Hello, this is Officer Sheppard, Boston Police. Who is this and why are you are calling this number, please?"

Aware that the military, hospital staff, and police were only allowed to give information to family members, AJ easily told a white lie as he wondered, 'what the hell was going on in Boston?!' "I am calling from McLean, Virginia and was trying to reach my niece Jordan Cavanaugh-Hoyt. This is Admiral AJ Chegwidden the Judge Advocate General of the US Navy. What has happened that you are there?"

"I am sorry to tell you this, Sir, but your niece had been shot. The paramedics just took her to the hospital."

AJ closed his eyes in pain, even though Jordan was not really his niece, he still felt as if she were. "I see," he said, "What about her husband and baby? Are they alright?"

"It seems as if her child was kidnapped and her husband, Detective Hoyt is in pursuit of the perpetrator."

"Thank you, Officer," AJ growled as his brain screamed 'PALMER!' He ended the call and in the next second he was calling the airport. He was going to Boston!

To be continued…


	77. Chapter 77

Chapter 77

As Woody sped off in the direction that he had seen Palmer go, he already had his radio in hand. Calling in the description of Palmer's car he instructed every unit in the area to search out and report in the vehicle's progress. Under no circumstances was anyone to engage Palmer because he had a seven week old infant hostage. Woody also ordered air support to help keep Palmer in sight.

When that was taken care of he made a personal request. Woody needed to find out how his wife was doing. He did love Riley and would give his life for the baby if the need arose, but Jordan was his world. He wasn't sure he could go on without her.

He had loved Jordan since meeting her and had never been happier in his life since they had made their marriage real. His parents had taught him about 'one love' a love to last a lifetime and that was what he felt for Jordan.

Word was relayed to him through the switchboard that Jordan was being taken into surgery just as Woody spotted the car Palmer had been in, pulled up haphazardly to the curb.

Out of his car almost before it stopped moving, Woody searched the interior of the abandoned vehicle. It was empty.

Frantically looking up and down the street for a man carrying a baby, Woody couldn't spot him. He was about to get back into his car and report what he'd found when a cross town bus pulled up at the corner, practically in front of his face.

Once again looking up and down the street Woody spied the back of a bus a few blocks away. His heart sank, knowing that Palmer's pursuit had just gotten exponentially harder with all the stops a public bus could make as well as the other passengers that could now be considered hostages.

Radioing in the updates his heart actually lifted for a moment when the police helicopter reported having the bus in question in sight. The relief was short lived, however, when the pilot reported the bus had pulled into the terminal. From there Palmer could disappear into the crowd, jump a local or cross country bus, or walk out and catch a waiting cab. He could be anywhere within minutes!

He ordered all units to converge on the terminal with the description of Palmer being sent to them. They were also reminded not to engage him unless there was no other choice because of the baby. He ordered dispatch to have the station shut down and to have all taxi companies withdraw their cabs from the station for the duration of the encounter.

It was no more than ten minutes later that Woody entered the bus terminal. He was surprised to hear a commotion going on near the men's lavatory. Heading in that direction, but keeping his eyes open for Palmer, he discovered that a young boy of nine had found a dead body in the bathroom. The terminal security guard was trying to call the police, but not getting very far because of the irate mother of the child yelling in his ear that she would sue the city for allowing this horrendous thing to happen to her baby!

Flashing his badge to the beleaguered guard, Woody stepped by him and entered the bathroom. There in one of the stalls was a dead black man of about twenty years of age. Even crumpled on the ground as he was, Woody could tell he would be about Palmers height and build. The fact that the youth was in his underwear clearly told that Palmer had killed him for his clothes. What was odd about the scene was that there were extra clothes on the ground around the body. Not the ones that Palmer had been wearing, although those were there too, but these looked like gym or work out clothes.

Back in McLean Virginia, AJ Chegwidden had been told there was a flight leaving for Boston in fifty minutes, but there was only stand-by room. There was another flight twenty minutes later that had four seats open. AJ booked both of them and headed to the airport not even stopping to change clothes. He figured he could get a refund later on which ever ticket he didn't use.

To be continued…


	78. Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Disembarking from the bus Palmer was as usual thinking three moves ahead. The first things he needed to do were to find a way to bandage his wound, get a change of clothing, then secure another form of transportation so he and the kid could get out of town. He went directly to the men's room to take care of his first objective.

Plopping the baby into one of the oval sink basins he smirked as he thought it was shaped as if made for that purpose. Stripping off his shirt, he got it wet to wipe off the blood. The bullet had hit bone and lodged in his shoulder.

The door opened announcing he had company. The young black man in his mid-twenties usually wouldn't have spoken to a stranger in a public restroom, but this one had his shirt off and what looked like a bullet wound in his shoulder. "Hey man, that looks nasty! You should get to a hospital and have it looked at!"

Palmer had already turned towards the nosey youth. Without a qualm he stepped behind the kid, who was almost the same height as he was, and calmly snapped his neck. He put out the yellow plastic sign that said the restroom was closed for cleaning, took off his pants, stripped the dead man, put him into a stall, and then put on the clothes that were not his style at all and therefore a perfect cover. The youth had been wearing tattered jeans, a garish T-shirt, baseball cap and cheap sandals. He had even thoughtfully been carrying a red and white canvas gym bag. He had hoped to be able to remove the bullet, but it was too deeply embedded in his shoulder bone to be able to do so without instruments of some sort. All he could do was use a clean pair of white socks and tear up another T-shirt that had been in the bag to bandage his wound. He then dumped the rest of the bag's contents in the stall with the body.

Once more scooping up the baby he placed him in the bag and tucking the hand of his useless arm into his belt, he calmly exited the restroom.

Now, having a totally different look, he had some time to access his options as to the mode of travel he wanted next. A Trailways or Greyhound bus that would take him out of town was too confining. He needed to take care of his shoulder soon. It hurt like a son-of-a-bitch and even trained as he was to ignore pain to get through what he had to, there was only so long a person could do that. The local buses were too crowded. While the kid was quiet in the duffle, he could pass as a healthy man alone, but one wrong bump to the bag or his shoulder would end that cover.

So a taxi it was. He could ride unidentified until he found a place to stop and take care of his wound. A closed vet clinic would be perfect. He would have the tools to remove the bullet, be able to sew it up, and bandage it as well.

Giving himself kudos for a well formed plan, while mentally cursing Jordan because of the pain in his shoulder Palmer headed for the door of the station.

Hearing his name shouted, Palmer spun on his heel to see who had caught up with him so quickly. There, about twenty feet away, stood Detective Hoyt, Jordan's husband.

Their eyes met across the distance. There were teenagers playing the pinball games against the wall, a mother with a baby in a stroller, and various other innocent by standers between the two of them. Palmer grinned nastily at Woody knowing he would not shoot in this crowd for fear of hitting someone.

Woody had come out of the washroom, his eyes already scanning the crowd for Palmer and Riley. The only person of Palmer's height he could see walking towards the south exit. His hair was covered by a baseball cap so Woody took a chance and called out Palmer's name to see if he got a reaction. The man turned and they were face to face.

Palmer grinned at him, turned around again, and walked out the door. As the crowd parted a bit and he saw Palmer was carrying a duffle bag, Woody knew Riley had to be inside.

He shouted that he was a police officer and for everyone to get out of his way. Woody took off in pursuit of Palmer and the baby.

To be continued…


	79. Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Outside the terminal Palmer got a bit of a surprise. All of the cabs were pulling out of the parking lot and many of them didn't even have passengers.

Making a quick scan of the area he saw a car pulled up to the curb less than fifteen feet to his right with the driver's door open and the engine still running. Even though there was a group of four people standing behind the car unloading bags from the trunk, the open door looked like an invitation being offered.

Moving as quickly as the pain would allow he gently tossed the duffle bag containing that baby onto the passenger seat. Someone from the group by the trunk must have noticed him getting into the car because he heard a shout of, "Hey this is MY car! What do you think you are doing?!" as he put it into drive without closing the car door.

Glad the car was an automatic, because his shoulder was causing him so much pain he wouldn't have been able to steer and shift. There was also no way he could close the door since it was his left shoulder that was wounded. However, he knew that the momentum of the car in motion would cause it to shut. It did just that as it started to move forward. Three of the group from the trunk area were running after him and shouting.

As Palmer was passing the terminal exit Woody ran out and saw the commotion going on. He knew that he had but one chance to save his son. He raced across the area and with everything he had made a sprint towards the car. Woody took a flying leap through the open car window, and the struggle for control of the car began.

Woody was lying partially across Palmer's chest, pressing against the wounded shoulder. His body, from the waist down, hung outside the driver's door.

He tried to run along side the vehicle that was picking up speed as he fought with Palmer. First he tried jerking the wheel out of Palmer's hand. But, he seemed to have deathlike grip on the wheel. So, as he lost his footing and started being dragged along Woody let go of the wheel and reached for the keys, figuring that the car would roll to a stop if they weren't in the ignition.

Palmer saw the motion and also let go of the wheel. As well as he could in the confines of the car he shoved the flat of his hand into Woody's nose, hoping to drive the bone into his brain and kill him instantly. Fortunately for Woody, he wasn't able to execute this maneuver as he desired, and only managed to break Woody's nose and daze him.

Trying to maintain his position in the car even as he felt himself losing consciousness Woody grabbed for anything he could. As his hand clawed across Palmer's left shoulder Woody's fist closed on the socks covering the wound.

The wad of bloody material remained in Woody's hand as he fell from the car window and tumbled to a stop on the ground. The makeshift bandage pulled loose the scab that had formed over the hole free and fresh blood started spurting from the wound.

While this fight had been going on, the squad cars that had been converging on the station had arrived. They had taken up positions to barricade the exits, following the directions of the helicopter crew.

This renewed injury caused a white hot frission of pain to shoot through him; it was more than even a trained person could possibly overcome. As he lost consciousness Palmer sent up a mental curse, 'I can't believe that this naive hick cop from the sticks and his arrogant pushy wife had finally been the ones...'

With an unconscious driver behind the wheel the car plowed into the squad car barricade.

Shaking his head to clear the pain Woody got to his feet and he staggered over to the crashed car. Yanking open the passenger door to search for the bag with Riley in it, Woody snarled, "Palmer you are under arrest!"

Seeing the spurting wound, Woody was tempted for just a second to let Palmer bleed to death, but his years on the force, not to mention the value for all life taught to him at his mother's knee, kicked in and he called for medical help for the man he secretly wished dead, as he took Riley out of the gym bag amazed that he slept through the entire ordeal!

To be continued…


	80. Chapter 80

Chapter 80

While Woody had been in his life and death chase to capture Palmer and rescue Riley, both Mac and Jordan had been undergoing surgery for what Palmer had done to them. The stake he had stabbed Mac with had been impaled so deeply that it had actually come out her back. The doctors had closely studied the X-rays to see the best way to remove it without causing more damage. The stake had punctured her lung as well as nicking one of the arteries to her heart. The surgery had taken many hours to repair the damage, but she was young and healthy, the doctors were hopeful that she would make a full recovery. However, Woody had been told later that if he hadn't acted as quickly as he had at the graveyard and hadn't stayed with her until help arrived as he had, she would have died.

Jordan's gunshot would was much less severe. The bullet had hit no major organs or blood vessels. So, while Jordan's injury was painful, as soon as she was out of surgery she had been on the road to recovery. Unlike Mac, who had been in intensive care since her stabbing, and had just been moved to a regular room where she could finally have visitors.

Woody had called Jordan's father and his mother as soon as he had gotten to the hospital and found out Jordan was still in surgery. Her father and his new bride had arrived shortly thereafter, and although Woody hadn't known it at the time, his mother was making plans to fly to Boston.

Upon Evelyn's arrival that evening she had a short visit with Jordan who was still groggy from the anesthetic. Then she had asked for the key to the apartment, took a cab to Max's house, gathered up her grandson and taken him home so he could sleep in his own bed after a most traumatic day. She informed them that she intended to stay until Jordan was home and able to manage on her own again. Both Woody and Jordan were glad of this.

They learned that Palmer was alive. However, the damage to his shoulder was so extensive that although the surgeon had been able to save his arm, it would be almost totally useless for the rest of his days.

Jordan was on her way home when word came down that they could finally see Mac. Her doctors had only agreed to discharge her if she stayed off work for another seven days and it would be a couple more weeks after that before she could drive again. Between Garrett, Lily, and Woody they had all promised to see that she got to work on time. That caused a bit of good natured griping, but she was ready to agree to anything to get out of the hospital and home to her husband and baby.

Admiral Chegwidden had stayed in town while Mac was in ICU, keeping in touch with Harm, who he had left in charge of the office until he could get back. Harm was both satisfied and displeased to hear that Palmer had finally been caught. Satisfied that this man was once again behind bards, but displeased that he hadn't been the one to bring him down after all Palmer had done to him. Harm did have a fleeting thought that Palmer had escaped prison twice before, but this time he was so injured that it was unlikely to happen…he hoped!

AJ had just finished showering after taking a run around the park near his hotel when the hospital called to inform him that Mac was at last stable and was being transferred out of ICU. He dressed quickly and headed to the hospital.

He entered Mac's room to find her awake and dying to know what had happened. "The staff around here won't tell me anything!" she complained.

Before he could answer her the door opened and Woody pushed the still grumbling Jordan into the room. Although she kept insisting she was fine, it was hospital policy that every patient being released had to be taken out in a wheelchair.

Mac was shocked to see Jordan in the chair and a splint on Woody's nose. She demanded to know what had happened. Woody told her it was all part of the Palmer saga. AJ's chuckle stalled Woody from saying more. All eyes turned to the Admiral for an explanation and he said, "I won't ruin the story, but I have to tell you that I talked to Harm, and he is very upset that he wasn't a part of it!"

With an exasperated sigh Mac insisted, "All I want to know is, did we get him?!"

To be continued…


	81. Chapter 81

Chapter 81

"He had run out of the bus station and was driving off in a stolen car when I jumped through the window and got him," Woody informed her.

"You never would have been caught if I hadn't shot him!" Jordan chimed in.

"But it was me that chased him through the streets of Boston knowing he had Riley with him!" Woody added.

"Well I couldn't very well have gone after him with a bullet in my gut!" Jordan protested.

AJ was watching Mac as her head turned back and forth between Jordan and Woody as if she were watching a tennis match. When it seemed that a new round of one-up-man-ship was about to start, she demanded, "Could someone please tell me in chronological order what happened after the fight at the cemetery?!"

Woody and Jordan looked at each other trying to decide who should tell the story when AJ said, "I seem to be an impartial third party here, maybe I could get it started and you two could fill in any holes I might make?"

The two in question nodded and AJ began, "It is my understanding that after you were stabbed, Woody stayed with you until help arrived. In doing so, he saved your life. While he remained with you, Palmer headed over to their apartment to kidnap Riley. Jordan shot Palmer, but he managed to get a shot off as he was hit. As Jordan laid there wounded, he got away with the baby. Woody took chase after Palmer as soon as the paramedics arrived and took over your care. Palmer boarded a city bus and rode it to the terminal where he killed a man just to get a change of clothes. Woody saw him leaving the terminal and ran after him. Palmer stole a car and was getting away, but Woody threw himself into the open driver's window. He reopened Palmer's gunshot wound during their struggle in the car. Palmer broke Woody's nose and he fell out of the car just before it crashed into the police barricade."

When AJ paused for a breath in the telling of the story, Mac jumped in, "So we did get him!"

"WE?!" Jordan exclaimed. "I was the one that shot him!"

"But Jordie, I captured him and saved our son."

"That's all well and good," Mac told them, "But _I_ almost DIED!"

With a laugh, AJ tried to appease them all, "Okay, you three! Can't you all just agree that it was a team effort, and be glad that you have put an end to Palmer's manipulations for good!?"

With rueful grins the three nodded and there were please smiles all around.

THE END

Fade in: Two months later, Palmer sitting in his cell lifting a homemade weight with his left arm, a painful smile as he plotted his revenge…


End file.
